The Possibility
by Shane C
Summary: The Animorphs are planning to take a week off in order to seem normal for their parents, but are interrupted by an Andalite call for help. Are they about to gain new allies, or is it a Yeerk trap?  Another canon series-style book.  Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**The Possibility**

Chapter 1

My name is Cassie. I guess I'm a pretty normal American teenager, most of the time. I go to school, of course, and I get decent grades. I don't technically have a job, but I put in several hours a week working for my dad. See, he's a veterinarian, and he runs a clinic to rehabilitate local wildlife that have been injured by traps, poachers, cars, or whatever. As a matter of fact, that's exactly what we call it – the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Sounds fancy, but it's just our old barn out back of our house. My mom is a vet, too, and she works at the local wildlife park as the head doctor for all of their exotic animals. It's a _very _cool job. I really don't see myself becoming anything other than a vet, and it's not just because of my parents. I love animals. People lie, steal, cheat, commit terrible acts of senseless violence – animals never do. I've always felt closer to the wildlife my dad and I care for than I do most people.

Anyway, I said I was a fairly normal kid…except for one thing. All the animals I take care of? I can turn into any one of them at will.

Now, before you stop reading because you think I'm a psycho, hear me out. Life has gotten _very _weird for me in the past year or so. I'm not a wizard or a were-person or anything like that – there's nothing supernatural about what I can do. Morphing, even though it seems like magic, is just technology. Not _human _technology, but technology. Buckle up – this is where it gets _really _weird. We are not alone in this galaxy. The conspiracy theorist nuts are more right than even they know.

My friends and I made a dumb decision one night when we were leaving the mall – I still can't decide if I'm glad we took the shortcut through the abandoned construction site or not. I guess my answer would depend on what was going on when you asked me. Anyway, a craft that was obviously not human landed right in front of us, and a creature that was even more obviously not human came out of it. He was an Andalite, and he was mortally wounded.

He had been hurt while fighting the Yeerks. If the Andalites are the good guys, the Yeerks are most definitely the bad guys. The Andalite, Prince Elfangor, warned us about the Yeerks and gave us the power to morph before he was murdered. His murderer, Visser Three, is the Yeerk in charge of stealing our planet, and our greatest enemy.

I say he's in charge of stealing the planet, but that's not really accurate. The Yeerks don't care about the actual ball of dirt we call Earth – they're here for _us_. Humans. The Yeerks are parasites, and they're basically helpless in their natural state. So they were pretty excited when they found a planet with six billion unsuspecting host bodies. The Andalites know they're here and what they're doing, and Ax says they're going to come and save us someday. Until then, it's just me and my five friends, trying to hold off an entire empire.

Ax, or Aximili, is Elfangor's little brother. He is the only known survivor of the battle that took place just outside of our orbit. I feel sorry for Ax, although I'd never tell him that – Andalites are obsessed with being brave to the point of recklessness. But I can only imagine how he feels when he's alone in the forest at night, and he knows he's the only one of his kind within light years of Earth.

Rachel is my best friend. I'm black and she's white, she's pretty and I'm plain. We are total opposites – I think that's why we're such good friends. There's no convenience about our friendship – we're just friends for the sake of being friends, because we like each other. She is the bravest person I know, besides Ax. She would lay down her life for any one of us, and she's proud to have the opportunity to fight the Yeerks.

Tobias…well, I feel at least as bad for Tobias as I do for Ax. Tobias used to be kind of a nobody – to be honest, I really didn't know anything about him before fate pitted us against the Yeerks together. He had a really messed up home life, and was a quiet, sweet guy. Jake stopped some guys from picking on him, and he kind of followed Jake around after that – that was how he ended up in the construction site with us. A few days after we were given the morphing power, Tobias paid the price for breaking the cardinal rule – never stay in morph more than two hours, or you'll be stuck like that forever. He lives as a red tailed hawk, now. He says he's okay with it, that he's happy to still be one of us and to fight. I don't know how deep his pain really goes, but I care about him, and his situation makes me sad every day.

Jake is our leader. He doesn't consider himself in charge, at least consciously, but I think he's becoming a little more comfortable with the role every day. He realized that it's important for someone to step up, and he is just that sort of guy – he'll be the first to step up when people need him. I had a crush on Jake way before we became Animorphs together, back when he was just Rachel's cute cousin. After seeing all of his inner strength, his bravery, and the depth of his commitment…well, he is _way_ more than Rachel's cute cousin to me now. By some miracle, he likes me, too. Even though we don't really talk about it and we're not a hold-hands-at-the-mall sort of couple, we _are_ a couple.

Rounding out our little band of freedom fighters is Marco. Underneath all the sarcasm and stupid jokes is a great guy. He's smart, one of the smartest people I've ever met. His mind has this analytical way of cutting through everything that's unimportant and he sees things that everybody else misses. He cares about all of us, even though you'd never get him to admit it and he definitely doesn't show it.

I was making my rounds after school at the clinic, giving the patients their meds and whatnot. Usually, my dad did this with me – it was our time together, and he taught me everything I know about caring for animals. Today, however, he was off on an emergency call. The forest rangers had discovered a big, illegal exotic animal operation where they were keeping lynxes, mountain lions, and even a full-grown brown bear. My dad was helping to handle these dangerous animals – they'd probably release most of them, but if any were malnourished or injured, he'd take them into our clinic until they were well enough to be released.

"Hey, Cassie," Jake said as he entered the barn, and I smiled. I liked his unexpected visits, even when he was bringing troubling news. "Need any help?"

"Almost done," I told him, though I gave him a grateful smile so he'd know I appreciated the offer. "What's up?"

He grinned the goofy, crooked smile I love. "No tragedy today, don't worry. I called a meeting – I hope you don't mind."

"I never mind it when you stop by," I told him. He blushed, and I heard someone make a gagging noise from outside the barn. I was not surprised when Marco walked in.

"Could you guys _be_ any more sickening?" he asked, but he grinned so we'd know he was kidding.

"You're just jealous," Rachel said, right on his heels. "On the off-chance you ever get a girl to like you, you'll be _way_ more obnoxious."

Tobias flared expertly as he skimmed the ceiling of the barn to his favorite perch, where he could see most of what was going on outside as well as inside the barn. "Hi, Tobias," I waved, smiling so he'd know I was glad to see him.

(Hey,) he said, and began preening his feathers. I marveled at how comfortable he was becoming with his strange little life.

"Okay, we're all here," Jake said, unofficially calling the meeting to order. "I just thought we needed to get together when there isn't a crisis. I don't know about you guys, but my parents are becoming pretty suspicious that I've got a secret _something _going on."

"Nooo," Marco drawled sarcastically. "My dad just thinks I've joined the Latin Kings, and he regularly searches my room for guns and drugs. No big deal."

Jake grinned. "That's exactly what I mean. Yeah, we have to fight the Yeerks – but we're not going to be able to do that if our parents send us to military school. I'm giving everybody homework – you have to be completely normal for the next week. Don't even _think _about the Yeerks."

"Okay, but what if something comes up?" Rachel asked, looking a tad bit disgruntled. Like I said, the girl took her role as defender of the human race seriously.

"It won't," Jake said. "Because we're not going to be looking for trouble. The Yeerks are not going to make insurmountable progress just because we take a week off. It's important that our parents think that nothing is up with us. Vital, really. We can't lose sight of that."

"I love it when you use big words like insurmountable," Marco said. "It's _so _sexy."

Jake's hand shot out and shoved Marco square in the middle of his chest, and Marco flipped over backwards off of the bale of hay he had been sitting on. Even he had to laugh as he got up with hay all in his hair. "Well, in the interest of being normal, my dad's off of work today. If I hurry, I can catch him before dinner and see if he wants to go out to eat or something. We haven't done that in…well, I don't remember the last time."

"Now you're thinking," Jake said. "That's perfect." Marco threw us all a sketchy salute and hopped on his bike to head home.

(Well, if you guys don't have anything else, I'll be going, too.) Tobias tried to keep all emotion out of his voice, but I knew he was a little stung. He didn't have any family to be normal for.

"Wait!" Jake said as he spread his wings to take off. Tobias settled back and stared at Jake intently, and Jake did something he rarely did – he hesitated. "Um, I didn't have a chance to ask her before you guys got here…but…" he turned to me, his face beet red. "I was thinking that maybe you might want to go see a movie? With me?" I blushed too, but I nodded. "And I was thinking that maybe you and Rachel might want to come to?" he asked Tobias.

"You mean like a double date?" Rachel asked, completely unabashed. "That sounds like fun. Let's do it!"

(Um…I guess?) Tobias said, but he sounded unsure of himself. (I mean, yeah, that could be fun.)

Rachel looked at first me, then Jake, then Tobias. "Why are you guys so awkward? This is going to be great! I've been wanting to see that new romantic comedy, anyway. Let's go eat with our folks, then hit the eight o'clock showing. Tobias, go to Jake's after he eats. I'll drop some clothes off for you – I picked out a few things for you last time I was at the mall." She was completely unashamed. "Me and Cassie will meet you boys at the multiplex at a quarter till eight. Cool?"

We all consented, and both she and Tobias took off. I looked at Jake, a little less embarrassed now that we were alone. "A double date? Sounds like a dangerous mission, if I've ever heard one."

He hit me with his crooked smile again. "Yes, but the rewards will be great," he said with mock seriousness. "I'll see you in a few hours." He got on his bike and left, leaving me alone with my thoughts. '_Could be fun. If nothing else, it'll be good for Tobias. I guess this is being normal, for a change._'


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **What's up? Glad you decided to give this a read. By now you know that my Animorphs machine runs on reviews, so hook me up! Oh, and I forgot to say it, but this book takes place in the same time period as the others – after Tobias gets his morphing ability back, but before David. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Rachel and I got to the multiplex a little early and waited on one of the little benches they have in the lobby. She'd spent nearly an hour getting me ready, and easily half of that was trying to talk me into the outfit I was wearing now. I'd tried to convince her that I wouldn't be comfortable if I weren't wearing something from my own wardrobe, but once Rachel gets something in her head, it takes an act of congress to persuade her away from it. I fingered the button-down blue blouse, and decided that it and the khaki pants weren't _too _bad. With Rachel, it could have been _much _worse – I'm talking dress-worse.

Naturally, I was nervous and fidgeting. Just as naturally, Rachel couldn't have been more relaxed.

"Where are they?" she complained. "I gave them one job – be here at 7:45."

I glanced at my watch. "Um, Rachel, it's only 7:40," I informed her.

"I know. But they should know to be a little early." I shook my head. It was Rachel's world – we were all just living in it. "There they are." She stood and waved, and I glanced down as Jake met my stare.

He'd gone to the trouble of dressing up. He wore a blue button-down dress shirt himself, and I made it a point to remember to ask him later if it had been Rachel's idea. If she'd consciously dressed us alike, her and I were going to have a _serious_ talk. Even so, Jake looked great.

Tobias looked markedly uncomfortable in a similar shirt to Jake's, only his was maroon. Rachel walked over to meet him and went straight for his collar to straighten it. I smiled at Jake, which he returned. I would have much rather it been just he and I, but I reminded myself that this was more for Tobias, who needed a dose of human normalcy.

Rachel handed Tobias his ticket, which she'd bought for him. Tobias didn't exactly have a need for cash most of the time. Even though I know Rachel didn't mind doing it, Tobias looked embarrassed and said, "I'll pay you back for this."

Rachel just looked amused. "Okay, fine. But how?" she challenged.

We all saw Tobias smile in what felt like ages. "I am the king of loose change. Skim parking lots for a couple of hours, put together a pile of quarters, morph, and walk into a bank to get cash. Simple."

Now that she knew he was actually serious, she frowned. "Only if you get bored, okay?" He just laughed easily and seemed more comfortable now that he'd thrown Rachel off a little. He hated when their relationship took on the dynamic of Rachel as his caregiver, and I could totally understand that. Rachel cared about him too much to see it from that angle – she just wanted him to be taken care of.

"You look really good," Jake said bravely to me, but I knew him well enough to know he was embarrassed and faking his confidence. He handed me a ticket and said, "I hope you don't mind; I paid for you."

Rachel had insisted I not buy my ticket until Jake got there, because she claimed she was certain he would do just that - buy my ticket without asking. "Thanks," I said, and I gave him a little half-hug so he'd know I was grateful.

The movie was pretty funny; Rachel had picked a good one. Even Tobias was laughing at all the right places. Around the middle of it, Jake had taken my hand loosely in his own and looked at me to see if I was okay with it. I know I said Jake and I weren't the hand-holding types, but it was nice. I saw Tobias discreetly check out what Jake was doing, then he hesitantly took Rachel's hand. She didn't take her eyes off of the movie, but I saw her give his hand a good squeeze, so he'd know it was okay. Tobias smiled, and it didn't have anything to do with the movie.

After the movie, we all kind of milled around outside for a few minutes. "Man, that was really nice," Rachel said. "No worries, just fun. I don't think I've had two hours like that in months." We all agreed; I know I hadn't.

"Well," Jake said reluctantly, "I'd probably better get going – I wanted to get home early, spend some time with the folks. That's a big part of this week we're going to have."

"Thanks," I told him impulsively. "For buying my ticket – you know, for taking me to a movie."

"Taking you on a date," Rachel corrected me. "Which you two don't do enough, by the way."

"That _was_ fun," Tobias said, and I was really glad to see that he meant it. I opened my mouth to say my goodbyes, and all of a sudden, I wasn't in front of the movie theatre anymore.

My vision was too blurry to see anything, but the thought speech that I heard was coming in loud and clear. (Brother Andalites – this Coloton-Shamtul-Andruss, Warrior. I have another with me. We have lost our Prince and our craft, and we are hiding in…) I didn't hear a location, but I saw with perfect clarity the area where they were as seen from space, then a much closer view of it from the air above it. It was a bird's eye view of a clearing surrounded by pine trees up in the mountains. (We picked up a signal from a wrecked Dome ship on this planet before we were shot down, and we believe there may have been survivors.) The vision, or whatever it was, weakened, but not before the warrior said, (If so, please find us! We know the Yeerks are here in force, and if there is any resistance, we wish to join it! Please, find us!)

The blackness faded, and my eyes fluttered open to see Jake, Rachel, and Tobias standing over me, looking _extremely _concerned. I was lying on my back on the sidewalk. "Cassie, can you hear me?" Jake sounded on the verge of panic.

"You guys didn't hear – see – that?" I asked incredulously. The vision, or whatever it was, was eerily similar to the message Ax had sent out that prompted us to rescue him from the ocean floor.

They all exchanged a look, like I might be losing it. "Um, no," Rachel said. "All I saw was your knees give out and Jake catching you. Nice save, by the way," she said the last part to him.

"You were out for almost a minute," Jake said. "Are you _sure _you're okay?" I nodded, and he picked me up off of the sidewalk.

"Guys, I just got a message from a couple of Andalites. Just like the one Ax sent. They claim to be stranded on the planet. I think they need our help." I looked into all of their eyes, so they'd know I was serious and that this wasn't some delusion I'd had. "They want to join the fight."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Big thank you to iris129, one of the most loyal reviewers in the Animorphs fandom, and to freak show, a new reviewer - to my stories, at least. This morning, I got a call from a publishing agent about an original fic I'm working on, and as you can imagine, a lot of my focus will be going toward that in the immediate future. I promise not to forget about this fic, though, and I'll try to keep updating it on the regular. Thanks for taking the time to read, and press that review button. I promise, your computer will not explode if you do!

Chapter 3

Everybody just stared for a solid thirty seconds. Rachel broke the silence. "Jake, are you _sure _you caught her before she hit her head?"

Jake ignored her. "What, exactly, did this 'message' say?" I had his full attention, and he was taking me seriously. That was good.

"They said that there were two of them, Andalite warriors whose ship got shot down. They lost their Prince. They showed me where they were up in the mountains, and said they wanted to join the fight. You know, if there was any resistance _to_ join."

He nodded thoughtfully. "And this sounded legit to you? Like real, stranded Andalite warriors?" I just nodded – I wasn't sure what he meant. "You think it's like Ax's message? I mean, that they were sending it out to other Andalites, and you happened to catch it because of your morphing sensitivity?"

"Oh, yeah. For sure. They were definitely calling out for other Andalites." If nothing else, I was sure of _that_. They had even started the message with 'Brother Andalites.'

Jake thought quickly. "Okay, first thing's first. Tobias, get airborne and get to Ax, right away." Before I could ask, he explained the order. "It's my guess that Ax didn't know how alone he was until right now, now that he's got the possibility of joining up with two Andalite full warriors. Keep him stable, and keep him from running off to meet them – at least until we can get together and make a group decision."

"On it," Tobias said, and jogged across the highway to get to the field on the other side, where he could morph without being seen.

Once he was away, Jake sighed heavily. "Just can't catch a break, can we?"

Rachel was tapping her foot impatiently. "Who _cares _about some stupid time off?" she demanded. "Do you even realize what having two Andalite warriors on our team would do for us? Ax is great, but he's a cadet, for crying out loud. He polishes these guys' hooves. _These _two have seen serious combat, and they survived being shot down."

"You're right," Jake agreed, but he still looked a little disappointed. He shook himself out of it. "Okay. Two hours from now – that's when we meet at Ax's scoop. It's plenty of time to get home, make a big show about going to sleep, and sneak out. Okay?"

"I'm supposed to stay the night at Cassie's," Rachel said, reminding me.

I frowned. I hated being deceitful toward my parents, but it was a necessary part of being an Animorph. "My place is easier to sneak out of, anyway."

Jake was already jogging in the general direction of his house. "Two hours!" he yelled behind him before the night swallowed him up.

Rachel started to quiz me about every little detail that I'd seen or heard, but just then my mom pulled up to pick us up. The whole ride home, Rachel was fit to burst. My mom asked us questions about the movie, and distractedly, I answered them – but the whole time, I was deep in thought as to what the message meant. I mean, I know what it _meant_, but I was the only one who had heard it. That meant that if it was anything other than what it appeared, it was up to me to figure it out.

As my mom drove down our long driveway, she said, "I know you girls are probably ready to relax, but your father brought home a few of the animals who were in the worst shape from his rescue. Would you mind checking with him to see if he needs any help? He's in the barn."

"Sure, mom," I said, discreetly checking my watch. We had about an hour and a half until we were supposed to meet the others – hopefully, if my dad did need help, I'd be able to get through it quickly. Rachel and I crunched across the gravel to the barn, where my dad was working.

"Hey, dad," I said when he didn't look up from his patient.

"Oh! Hi, girls," he said distractedly. He had the big stainless steel rolling table out in the center of the barn, underneath the large overhead light. He used it as an operating table for the larger animals – right now, a big mountain lion was lying on it, sedated. "The rescue went well – for criminals, the people who were keeping the animals prisoner took okay care of them. This poor girl has a mangled paw – my guess is bear trap. I had to place pins in where the bones were shattered. Now I'm just stitching her up."

Rachel edged closer to watch my dad work. "Cool," she said. "That is one big cat."

My dad smiled. "Six and a half feet from nose to tail, one hundred and twenty-one pounds," he announced proudly, as if he'd raised her himself. "She's got five retractable claws on each forepaw – once she gets a hold of her prey, they don't normally get away." He pressed down on the pad of her uninjured paw, and five large meathook-like claws came out. My dad is an emergency wildlife vet, as you know, but I swear he missed his calling as a teacher.

Rachel put her hand out as if to touch her flank, then hesitated. "May I?" she asked my dad.

He smiled – he loved it when people took an interest in animals. "Sure. She's fully sedated." Rachel placed her hand on the cougar's side, and as I watched, its breathing slowed a little. I realized what she was doing – acquiring the animal.

She gave me a meaningful look. "So, I guess this cat gets around pretty well in the mountains, huh? That's why they're called mountain lions?" I realized what she was doing – telling me to acquire her too, because the Andalite castaways were in our mountain range. I went to the operating table and placed my hand beside hers and concentrated. I imagined I could feel her DNA flowing through my fingertips and into me, which is silly, but it's my way of visualizing while I'm acquiring a new animal.

"Sure she does," my dad said agreeably, "but they live in almost every habitat in North and South America. Highly adaptable, and _very _good at what they do – which is hunt deer, mainly. They can get up to forty-five miles per hour in a dead sprint. They climb, swim…pretty much, this cat can do it all. There," he announced as he tied off the last suture. "Four to five weeks, this beautiful girl will be back in action. Until then, she's going to eat me out of house and home," he laughed.

I checked my watch again – we had plenty of time. "Need any help with any of the others?" I asked.

"No, but thank you, sweetie. This was my last patient – like I said, they weren't treated too poorly, other than being locked up."

I faked a yawn. "Well, I guess me and Rachel will go and get ready for bed, then." He nodded, still distracted with checking his patient's vital signs and filling out her post-op chart. We went inside to say goodnight to my mom, who was already in her nightgown and in bed, watching TV. Once we got into my room, Rachel turned to me, excited.

"Sweet! Now Jake's not the only one with a big cat morph," she bragged.

"Actually…cougars aren't big cats. They're the largest of the small cats. They're more closely related to housecats than tigers or lions," I informed her.

"Know-it-all," she teased. "Either way, this ain't your ordinary housecat. What now?"

"We wait about forty-five minutes…hopefully, my dad will be in bed by then. Then we go see Ax and figure this thing out."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **Do me a favor. Don't add me or my stories to your alerts if you're not going to review. It pisses me off to no end, because you're basically saying your time is more valuable than mine. Four different people have done it with this story already…it's a really crappy thing to do. To everyone taking the time, thank you from the bottom of my admittedly shallow heart. Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Rachel and I were the last to arrive at Ax's scoop, and I was relieved to see that Ax himself was still present. He would have gotten the message, too – I know if _I _were trapped on an alien planet and had the opportunity to join up with fellow humans, I'd jump at it. He looked extremely fidgety, for an Andalite – he couldn't stop his rear hoof from tapping, and his tail was almost unperceptively swishing back and forth. They waited for us to demorph, then Jake took control of the situation.

"Here's the deal. We've got two Princeless Andalite warriors up in our mountains. Their ship was shot down, presumably destroyed, and they're stuck. They say they're looking for a resistance to join. Does that about sum it up?" he asked Ax. He already had my version.

(Yes, Prince Jake. And I would very much like to find them before they are forced to move or they are discovered.) Even in thought speech, his impatience was easy to hear.

"Hold on, Ax. You say they don't have a Prince – what happened to him?" Marco asked. Marco was going to do his thing – do his best to poke holes in the story to see if it would hold water.

(They did not specify. I assume he was killed in the crash. What matters is that two of them survived.)

"Okay. I can almost buy that. Look, I just have one big problem with this whole 'calling all Andalites' message thing. See, Visser Three is in an Andalite body. He would have gotten this message too, with their location and everything," Marco pointed out. He didn't look happy about it.

(All the more reason to get them to safety before the Yeerks find them,) Ax insisted.

(Ax, do your people know Visser Three is here? Is it possible that these guys didn't know they were announcing their location to the Yeerks?) Tobias asked.

Ax hesitated. (It is possible, but unlikely. We have known that Visser Three is in charge of the subjugation of Earth for a while now. They may have simply decided to take the chance that he would be off-planet at the time of the message. One or both of them may be hurt. They may have taken the chance because they have no other choice.)

Marco shook his head a little sadly. "They may have decided to roll the dice, but we can't. We have to assume that Visser Three got the message and is on his way there." His eyes narrowed. "And there is always the possibility that this is a trap."

(Are you telling me that I can't tell the difference between my own people and some Yeerk impostor?) Ax asked heatedly. I noticed that his tail had gone rigid and his hands were curled into fists. I placed my hand gently on his shoulder.

"He's just being careful, Ax. You know we have to," I told him softly, and he relaxed a couple of hairs.

Rachel shrugged. "Trap or not, we have to check it out. If it _is_ two Andalites, they were here to help us. We can't leave them hanging." Rachel has a very black-and-white way of seeing the world, especially when it comes to matters of the war we were fighting.

"What do you think, Jake?" I asked. He had been very quiet during the debate. All eyes turned to him to see what he would say.

"This is a tough one," he said honestly. "Of course, I _want _to check it out. But in the long run, we can afford to not have two more team members. We _cannot _afford to put our heads in a noose Visser Three set out for us." He thought it over. "We take it slow," he decided. "If this _is _a Yeerk trap, they'll expect us to rush into it. We spy on Chapman, Tom, and anyone else we can get access to. If we can get confirmation that this either is or isn't a trap, then we'll be able to move on that information."

"Why were they here in the first place?" Marco wondered out loud.

(Advance scouts?) Tobias guessed.

"Why would they send scouts when they already know what's going on?" Marco challenged. "This is sounding more and more fishy. I can't think of one reason the Andalites would have sent a three-man – or three-Andalite – crew here. Can you, Ax?" Ax didn't answer, which sealed the discussion for Marco.

"He's right, Ax. There's too many unknowns to just hurry in. We need to wait until we know more," Jake said.

(I cannot do that, Prince Jake. If my brothers are out there, I have to help them. I do not ask the rest of you to put yourselves at risk, but I am going,) Ax sounded desperate.

"No, Ax," Jake said forcefully. "You're too valuable to lose. Ifthere are really two Andalites in the mountains, we _will_ help them. But we are not going to run into it without knowing it's not a trap. None of us are," he finished, and there was finality in his voice.

(I am not asking permission. I am telling you what I am going to do. Don't try to stop me, Prince Jake. Try to understand. I have an obligation to my people.)

Me and Marco exchanged a glance; this was getting out of hand.

Jake forced Ax to make eye contact, which was a tricky proposition when dealing with an Andalite. When he was sure he had Ax's full attention, he said, "You call me Prince. That doesn't just apply when it's convenient. I am giving you a direct order – you will not act on your own regarding this. You can't. Will you listen?"

Ax hesitated yet again. (Do your best to find out if this involves the Yeerks. And do it fast,) he finally said. (As I said, I have an obligation to my people, and that does not include standing by while they die on an alien planet.)

"Okay," Jake said, obviously relieved. "Tomorrow, we spy on all known controllers, and we'll move on any information we come across. I know how you feel, Ax. We'll do our best to get this done quickly and safely. We meet back here at first light." He started to morph, probably to leave before Ax could change his mind, and we all followed his lead.

(First light is only about six hours away, Ax,) Tobias encouraged. (If they _are_ out there, they can hold on for six hours. They're warriors – they can take care of themselves.) Ax nodded stiffly.

As Rachel and I broke away from the others to begin our flight back to my house, I realized something that bothered me. Ax had never technically agreed to follow Jake's orders. Normally, I wouldn't have thought there was much chance of Ax disobeying Jake, especially when given a direct order – but this involved his people. I brought it to Rachel's attention.

(I doubt he'll go off on his own,) she said. (Although I halfway wish he would – that way, we'd _have _to follow him. Trap or no trap, it's something we have to at least check out.)

Something Ax had said was sticking in my head. (Do not try to stop me, Prince Jake,) he'd said. There was nothing I could do about it if Ax decided to go by himself, but it didn't stop me from worrying. How far would he go to rejoin members of his race? '_How far would _you _go, if you were in his shoes?_' I asked myself. The answer was simple: as far as it took. I demorphed and climbed into bed with these troubling thoughts, and I prayed for dawn to come quickly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **As much as I complain about people not reviewing, I'm _extremely_ grateful to those of you who take the time. This whole fic is dedicated to the following people: uncutetomboy, Andrew's Brain, alj97, b2uty and the b2st, iris129, Hawjabran, Meagan Snow, arin, freak show, Kaye, nomadsland, and TheEvilMonkey666. I sincerely hope I haven't left anyone out, because I appreciate you guys more than I can easily say in an author's note. Thank you, and enjoy your fic!

Chapter 5

When my alarm went off, I was a little confused at first. I had programmed myself over the years to wake up with the sun. I never used the alarm, which was why it was still dark when it went off. Slowly, I remembered what I was waking up early for as Rachel groaned and threw a pillow over her head.

"Go back to sleep," I whispered to her as I slipped out of bed and groped around my room for my morphing outfit. After I'd dressed, I crept through the house, trying not to make any noise. I scribbled my parents a quick note saying that Rachel and I had gone to the beach for the day and slipped through the back door. Even though it was only about forty-five minutes until sunrise, the morning was pitch black – I guess that saying about it being darkest before dawn was true. '_I just hope that's literal, and not metaphorical…or we're in trouble,_' I thought to myself grimly as I located my bite-proof gloves and got to work.

I'd woken up early enough to where the sun hadn't broken the horizon before I was done with my chores. Instead of going through the trouble of sneaking back through the house, I closed my eyes and concentrated on my osprey morph. I had a horned owl morph that would have been better for night flying, but the sky was already lightening as the sun crept closer to my part of the world. The insects falling silent and the birds picking up their slack in the noise department confirmed that it would be true morning soon. I consciously changed different parts of my human biology to osprey in a head-to-toe progression – while the others all find morphing a creepy necessity, I enjoy making the conversion from human to animal. Insects are a different story.

Once the transformation was far enough along to where I had thought speech, I called out to Rachel in my bedroom. (Wake up, Rachel. Time to go – open the window and fly out when you're done morphing.) I couldn't hear her reply – thought speech only works while you're morphed – but I assumed it was colorful, and I smiled as I lost my lips.

Now that I was done with my chores and had nothing in front of me but the situation with the Andalites, I allowed myself to worry a bit as Rachel and I skimmed the waking forest towards Ax's home scoop. I tried to convince myself that Ax wouldn't go against Jake, but I couldn't quite do it. More convincing was the fact that Tobias hadn't alerted us to a possible change of heart on Ax's part. '_Unless Ax talked Tobias into keeping quiet, or worse, into going with him,_' I fretted.

It turned out my fears were more or less unfounded. As Rachel and I landed, my heart fluttered with relief as I saw Ax standing stiffly outside of his shelter with Jake. As we demorphed, I asked Jake privately, (Is he doing okay?) Jake looked unhappy, but nodded once, almost invisibly.

As we waited on Marco, Ax was getting anxious. (Prince Jake, we need to hurry,) he said for about the fifth time since Rachel and I had gotten there.

"Chill, Ax," Rachel said. "Be patient, we still have to do some recon before we head out, anyway."

"Actually, we're not," Jake said reluctantly. I started to ask what he meant, but Tobias explained it to Rachel and I privately.

(Ax was going to take off last night in spite of what Jake told him,) he said. (The only way I could get him to agree to stay was by promising that we'd head to the mountains first thing to start searching. I figured it was better this way.) No wonder Jake looked so put-out with Ax this morning.

Finally, Marco arrived and immediately began demorphing. Rachel coughed pointedly when he didn't say anything, and Marco pretended not to notice. Rachel, being Rachel, didn't let it go. "How 'bout an apology?"

"For what?" he asked grumpily as his face became human.

"For making us wait, duh," she said. "We've been waiting on you for like forty-five minutes, man."

I suppressed a smile – it had been ten minutes, maximum. Marco just replied gruffly, "Cut me a break, my alarm didn't go off. I didn't even get a chance to grab breakfast."

(None of us did. Thanks for reminding me,) Tobias said, just as grumpy as Marco. It was certainly shaping up to be a pleasant morning.

Jake sighed heavily and began. "Ax thinks this is time-sensitive enough to where we have to go, now. That means we're going in blind, and if it's a trap, we're in trouble. Of course, we'll check out the location from the air before we try to go to ground, but I can't imagine the Yeerks not being ready for that, if they're involved." He turned to me. "You know the terrain around here better than anybody, and you saw the location firsthand. Do you think you can find it?"

I considered. "It's on the south side of the mountain, for sure – there was a lot of melted snow runoff. I think I could put us in the right neighborhood – after that, it'll be a matter of luck finding the exact spot."

"This is so stupid," Marco complained. "I was iffy about it when we were going to spy on controllers before we went. Now you're telling me we're just going to walk right in?"

"Weren't you listening? We're going to do a fly-over before we walk right in," Rachel said.

"Oh, okay. So we just get shot out of the air instead of on the ground. Nice," he replied.

Jake looked at Ax. "Us going with you to check this out is conditional. If we do this, you have to promise you're going to follow my lead, no matter what. I don't care what happens, I have to know that if push comes to shove, you'll put us over anybody else. That includes other Andalites. If you can't agree to that, then the deal's off, and you can go by yourself."

"Jake, that's harsh," I told him, and he impatiently put a finger up in my direction to keep me quiet. I felt like a scolded child – Jake was usually more sensitive in dealing with everybody, especially me. I suppressed the resent that tried to bubble up in me, telling myself that it wasn't personal – he just saw Ax's answer to his statement as critical.

(You are my Prince,) Ax said, and he was clearly torn. (You saved my life and took me in, and I will always be grateful. But if an Andalite superior gives me an order that goes against your wishes…I would not know what to do,) he said honestly.

"Here's the deal," Marco said angrily. "You said it yourself – we saved your life. You agreed to follow Jake, so as far as I'm concerned, while you're on his planet, you follow his rules. If you can't do that, you'd better let us know now. I'll wish you good luck and a fond farewell if you want to go off on your own and find these Andalites."

I waited for Jake to calm Marco down, to diffuse the situation, but he did neither. "Well, Ax? What's it going to be?"

Ax looked angry for a moment, and then his stalk eyes drooped a bit. (Yes. I can see that I have no choice – I will follow your orders, _Prince _Jake.) It was hard to miss the resent in his thought speech tone. I expected Jake to soften a bit, but he didn't – he just nodded coolly.

"That's settled, then. Let's go find your Andalites," he said, and he began to shrink as he morphed to peregrine falcon.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Even though we were in a search pattern above the mountain range, looking for the wayward Andalites, I was keeping more of an "eye" on Ax. I'd privately asked Jake to pair me with him so I could watch for any signs of erratic behavior. Ax's loyalty to Jake had never been in question before, and if there was any warning that it might be broken, I wanted to be in a position to catch it. So far, it seemed as if Ax was going to do as he said and follow Jake's lead…but then again, we hadn't found any stranded Andalites yet.

I didn't notice how much the clearing I was floating over looked like the one in the message at first – probably because I was paying attention to Marco and Jake's argument about some upcoming football game. A glint of sunlight off of metal made me focus all of my attention downward, and when I realized what I was looking at, I called it out to everyone.

(Guys, I've got some sort of a crash site down here. I see skid marks in the rock, and there's part of a spacecraft underneath some trees,) I said, looking around to see how close everyone was.

Ax, who was the other half of my search pairing, got excited. (It is a Model 22! It is not the Yeerks – the message was legitimate! I knew it!) He began dropping altitude, carelessly going in for a landing at the crash site.

Jake was the first one on-scene. (Ax, snap it up. Get back up here with the rest of us – we look at this from all angles before we dive in!)

Ax didn't answer. He didn't come back up to the altitude the rest of us were at, but he did stop descending. His drop had brought him to within about fifty yards of the top of the wreckage. He circled it tightly, looking for survivors.

(Ax! I said to come back up – you're too close.) Jake was anxious, and I could tell that this was the thing he was most afraid of – losing control during a touchy mission.

It was like Ax didn't even register what Jake was saying to him. (Prince Jake! I see hoofprints leading away from the crash site! The trees block them out from above – I will demorph and follow from the ground.) And he blatantly shot downward to land among the splintered trees the wrecked Andalite fighter was resting on.

(Should I go with him?) Rachel asked.

(No,) Jake said instantly. (If he wants to ignore me and put himself in danger, I'm not letting him take anyone else with him.) I could see that Ax was already demorphing. (Ax?) Jake called down to him. (You're on your own, pal. I told you what would happen if you didn't want to follow my orders – I'm not putting anyone else in harm's way. We'll try to keep an eye on you from the air, but -) Whatever Jake had been about to say was cut short by all hell breaking loose.

The Model 22 fighter had been resting in what looked like a cradle of broken tree trunks, complete with leaves and branches. As Ax finished his demorph, the bundle of trees _stood up_, and the wreckage of the Model 22 rolled down to hit the earth. Even with my elevated perspective, it took me a moment to figure out what I was seeing.

(It's some kind of giant spider!) Marco yelled. (A chameleon spider!) Sure enough, the "tree trunks" were starting to resolve themselves into something that looked far more like legs. Several brownish limbs hurtled toward Ax with breakneck speed – he had no chance at dodging them. Instead of smashing him, though, they just buried themselves around him, forming a sort of living prison.

(Ha ha ha!) the booming laugh was almost anticlimactic. Of _course _it was Visser Three. Of _course _this was his clever trap, complete with enormous morph. (If the rest of you will be so kind as to land and demorph, I won't have to kill this one,) he offered in what he clearly thought of as a generous tone of voice.

(Jake! What do we do? We don't have anything that can touch that thing,) Tobias said frantically. (That thing would laugh at Rachel's elephant morph.)

(Stay elevated,) Jake said back instantly. (We can't help him by getting ourselves caught with him. And you're right – we've got _nothing _that can fight that.) Now that it was moving, I saw that the Visser's morph was more like an octopus than a spider, in that its limbs didn't seem to have any set joints…but it wasn't very much like an octopus, either. I stopped counting its arms after I got to thirty.

(Are you sure?) Visser Three called up teasingly. (I never expected this trap to catch more than one Andalite bandit – I will be more than happy to take this one away and call the day a win. Especially when my most loyal on-planet lieutenant takes his place in this one's brain – he will tell me everything I want to know about the rest of you. You could save us all a lot of trouble.)

(Prince Jake, don't listen to him!) Ax yelled in private thought-speech. (He will learn nothing from me – I'll use my tail against myself before a Yeerk gets anywhere near my brain! Just run! I am sorry – I should have listened to you!)

(Don't worry, Ax – we'll get you out of this,) Jake promised, and he didn't even sound angry at Ax for putting him in this position. (But first, we're going to have to let the Visser think that he's won.) There was a momentary silence, and I assumed Jake was talking to someone privately. When he came back, he sounded wary. (Just do what they say, Ax. Visser Three is going to be taking this one really slow – he doesn't want to really infest you. Part of the reason he's so valuable is because he's the only Andalite controller, and he's going to want to keep it that way. But he _is _going to try to get information out of you. Just keep in mind that we're going to be close, and when the moment is right, we'll break you out,) he promised.

A massive boulder several yards away from Visser Three flickered, and suddenly it was a Yeerk transport instead of a gigantic rock. (Hologram,) Marco noted unnecessarily. A dozen Hork-bajir with assault Dracon beams surrounded Ax's biological prison, and the Visser retracted his arms, one by one. Ax was left, unharmed, tail quivering with impotent rage. The Hork-bajir in charge said something and motioned, and Ax reluctantly walked into the transport ship. The Hork-bajir followed, Dracon beams aimed at his head, keeping a respectful distance from his tail. (If any of you want to join him, now is your chance,) Visser Three called up as he began to demorph. (No? Well, I'm sure the four of you will attempt a harebrained rescue attempt later – I'll have you then.)

As Visser Three regained his Andalite form and followed his Hork-bajir onto the transport, something he said struck me as odd. I looked around and counted – _Rachel, Marco, Jake…where's Tobias?_ (Jake, where is Tobias?) I asked out loud, suddenly fearful.

(He's where I told him to be,) Jake answered grimly. (If everything went right, he's a flea on the Visser's back right about now.)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Before the transport's door was even through closing behind Visser Three, Jake was already in a stoop, heading straight for the spacecraft at almost two hundred miles per hour. (Let's go! Find anything to grab onto – do _not _let this ship get away! We've got two of our friends on board!)

I tucked my wings into my body and let gravity take over, and I saw Rachel and Marco doing the same. (Jake, what's the plan?) I asked desperately, trying not to distract my osprey's brain from the minute calculations it was making to keep the rising spacecraft centered in my crosshairs.

(I told you – don't let that ship get away. That's as far as I got,) Jake said as he flared and hit the transport, talons first. He didn't find anything to hold onto, and he bounced off of the hull twice, his claws frantically trying to find a rivet or piece of elevated metal to grasp.

(Is that…? No way! Two Andalites, running for cover! They were under the transport!) Rachel cried.

Marco didn't stop to question what Rachel was saying. (If they're running for cover, we probably should keep our distance! Jake, pull up!) Jake had just caught the edge of a piece of sheet metal and was hanging on for dear life.

(Can't!) he yelled back. (We'll lose the ship if I -) Before he could finish, a flash of light brighter than the sun pulsed out from just underneath the cockpit of the transport. Delayed, the shock wave and noise from the explosion almost knocked me out of the sky, even though I was still a good football field away from the transport. As I tumbled and tried to right myself, I heard strange thought speech voices fill the air.

(Nicely placed charge, Coloton! Cover the aft hatch – I'll cut into the cargo bay!) as I heard this, I spotted an Andalite, easily as big as Visser Three's host, skid to a stop in front of the door through which the Hork-bajir had taken Ax. As it started to open, the Andalite let loose with a barrage of shredder fire, the green beams standing in stark contrast to the bright red of the Yeerk weapons. A more sustained beam of green began burning into the metal of the back of the ship, and I saw the Andalite who was firing it hidden behind a pile of rubble.

I let the Andalites fall to the back burner of my mind for a moment as I started searching for Jake, who'd been fairly close to the explosion. I didn't see him at first, and my heart skipped a beat. (Jake! Jake! Are you okay?)

(Mmm, I'm good!) Jake's thought speech voice was a little slurry. (I got tossed from the ship, I'm in the woods, morphing tiger! What happened?)

Rachel answered him. (The Andalites are what happened! They're attacking the Yeerk ship right now, and they've got the bad guys pinned inside! Demorphing now, I'm gonna help them! You guys -) her voice faded as she passed to far to human to continue using thought speech.

Marco was nowhere to be seen, and I assumed he was doing the same thing as Rachel – demorphing to morph and get into the fight. I decided I had to risk talking to the Andalites – unless this was a really, really elaborate trap, they were on our side. (Andalite warriors! We are on your side, and shortly several Earth morphs will be joining you! Direct them to where you need them!) I called, doing my best to sound like an Andalite myself.

(Confirmed,) the Andalite burning into the back of the transport said in an almost-comically conversational tone of voice. (I am opening the aft of the ship, where they are keeping our brother hostage. Any battle morphs to go in with me and free him would be useful. I am Tomera-Brucera-Morcum, and my partner is Coloton-Shamtul-Andruss.)

I saw Marco lumber out of the woods in gorilla morph as he answered Tomera. (We'll do introductions later – just get that can opened so we can get Ax and get out of here!)

Several red Dracon blasts coming from the door of the transport forced Coloton to dive for cover, and the Yeerks used the break to pour out of the ship. Coloton resumed firing at them, but he was forced to duck as a couple of the Hork-bajir took aim. There was an extremely loud banging sound from the rear of the ship, and I saw an impossibly-thick layer of metal lying on the ground, a billowing cloud of dust rising from where it had fallen. (We're in!) came the shout from the Andalite called Tomera, and the high-pitched noise of energy weapons redoubled.

As I watched, a gorilla, full-grown Andalite, smaller Andalite, and a red-tailed hawk shot out through the new opening in the ship. (Retreat!) Tomera shouted, firing behind him into the ship. Jake, who was just charging toward the ship, skidded to a stop and turned to follow the group into the forest.

(Damn!) Rachel yelled as she saw that everyone was running, but she turned to follow them. Coloton stopped firing, pulled something from his bandoleer, and bravely ran into the enemy fire. He stopped twenty yards short of the transport and tossed whatever he had pulled from his bandoleer underhanded toward the door. A familiar Andalite named Visser Three had to duck to avoid being hit by the object as he stepped out of the ship, and he instantly began galloping away from his damaged ship.

(Ahhhh!) he cried in rage and fear as yet another explosion rocked the Yeerk transport, this one breaking it in half. The force of the explosion decimated the few Hork-bajir who'd made it out of the ship, and tossed the Visser like a rag doll into the other end of the forest.

(Yeee-WOOO!) came the weird, whooping war cry from Coloton as he followed my friends into the woods. (They weren't expecting _that_, eh Tomera?) he laughed as he ducked a few wayward Dracon blasts and disappeared among the trees.

(Let's just get out of here!) I heard Jake's fading thought speech voice. (Everyone okay?) I flapped hard in the direction they'd fled as all of my friends checked in, one by one. I was still shell-shocked by the speed of the attack, but I was beginning to catch up. '_I think we're okay,_' I told my worried mind. '_I think we're fine._' If I'd had a mouth, I would have smiled – I'd just witnessed the first ambush of Yeerk forces on Earth by an Andalite team of warriors.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **Thank you to everyone keeping me going on this fic! Recently, most notably, it's been Kaprycorn Hunt, 9aza, iris129 (as always), and obstanleycat that have been providing the ammo for the next chapter…so thanks a million, guys, and keep it up! I hope you like the new content!

Chapter 8

Jake stopped everyone a little while later, when he thought we were a safe distance away from the site of the Visser's ambush that had gone terribly wrong for him. He asked Tobias and I to check the perimeter to see if we were being followed, and the two of us made a broad circle around the rest of them. When we were satisfied that they were alone down there, we reported back and landed beside Jake and the rest of the crew.

The two Andalites stood off to the side, checking their gear and talking optimistically among themselves. My friends, all still in morph, formed their own group ten yards away. Oddly enough, Ax stood with my friends, not joining in the conversation with the other Andalites. Jake spoke privately to us when we were all present.

(So it looks like these guys are on the level, but they don't know what we are, yet. It's obviously risky to let them see us for what we are, but we've got to be getting close to the time limit,) he said.

(You have twenty-two minutes remaining,) Ax said calmly. (For what it's worth, I believe demorphing in front of them would be safe enough. They are warriors and will not allow themselves to ever be captured.)

(What, you mean you didn't already tell them who we are and where we live?) Marco asked edgily. (We could give them our social security numbers, too. That should make it easier for -)

(Enough, Marco,) Jake cut him short. (Ax is on our side. He made a mistake. Let it ride.)

(No, Prince Jake – Marco is correct to be angry with me,) Ax said, stalk eyes drooping. (I disobeyed my Prince and put my friends in danger. I repent. It will not happen again.) He pointedly did not look at the two Andalite refugees.

(What's done is done,) Jake said mildly, not taking the opportunity to shame Ax, and I felt a measure of pride at Jake's leadership skills. A lesser person would have jumped all over Ax. (I know whose side you're on, Ax. And I know how hard it must be to be alone on an alien planet. We've always trusted you, and we'll keep doing so. Demorph, guys – Ax, go introduce yourself to our new friends.) Human features began to emerge from the Siberian tiger morph, and we followed his lead.

I was the first one to become fully human, and the first thing I noticed was the way the Andalites were staring at us. I'm still learning to read Andalite facial expressions, but this one was pretty clearly disbelief. The bigger one, Coloton, I think, stepped forward and pointed a shaky finger at Ax. (Aristh…explain this. Immediately,) he demanded in just as shaky a voice.

(I am Aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, and these are my friends. Clearly, you want to know how they acquired the morphing power. It was my brother, Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, who gave them access to the Escafil device. He is dead, and I stand in his place as the responsible party for the offense,) he said officially.

The two newcomers looked at each other, and the leader spread his palms in what I was beginning to see as a gesture of peace. (We don't come to judge legal matters, Aristh – we are here to fight the Yeerks. We disobeyed orders in coming to this planet, ourselves.) He jammed a thumb into his breastbone and said proudly, (I am Coloton-Shamtul-Andruss, and this is my battle partner, Tomera-Brucera-Morcum. How long have you been on-world?) he asked Ax eagerly.

(Several Earth months,) he replied. (We have been striking at the Yeerks from cover for the entirety of my stay. We have done damage, though not enough to halt their progress.)

Coloton's stalk eyes slitted almost closed. (When you say "we"…surely you don't mean yourself and these human children.)

Ax nodded. (We are the only resistance.)

Tomera laughed. (Impressive, Aristh. But you have brothers present now, and we will take over from here. I assume you have set up a hidden base camp – you will take us there, now.) Almost as an afterthought, he looked at Jake, who'd stepped forward to stand beside Ax. (Thank you for your contributions, Human. You will not be held accountable for your crime of using the morphing power, because you were not ordered otherwise by an Andalite-of-rank. I hereby issue that order – you will cease using the power given to you by the wayward Prince Elfangor.)

Marco started laughing hysterically, like Tomera had just told the world's funniest joke. "Listen, dude, you're on _our _planet. After you see what you're up against, you'll be begging for our help. Let's skip the whole "superior Andalite" song-and-dance and get down to brass tacks – getting you guys informed on the situation and hiding you out with Ax."

Tomera looked at Coloton, clearly confused. (Why does this human speak to me as if he is the Prince-in-charge?)

Ax answered for Coloton. (Marco is not the Prince-in-charge. Jake is,) he gestured to the boy standing to his right. (You would do well to accept it and follow him. I have, and it has kept me alive.)

Coloton and Tomera stared at Ax as if he'd grown two more stalk eyes. (Aristh…) Coloton began, then seemed at a loss for words. (This human is not one of us. To give him an Andalite rank, _especially _the rank of Prince, is blasphemous. It is probably criminal, although I've never heard of anything like it before. I suggest you drop this silly charade right now and grow up – this is a war.)

Rachel had had enough. "We _know _it's a war, you…" Jake put a hand on her shoulder, and she calmed down fractionally and started over. "We've been bleeding and hitting the Yeerks for a very long time, while you and your Andalite friends have been gallivanting around doing God-knows-what."

"Here's the deal," Jake said before the Andalites could respond. "I don't claim to be anybody's Prince. Sure, I call the tough shots, but this is a democracy. We would be really, really happy to have you guys join us, but you're not going to come in here and start throwing around orders." Jake shrugged. "That's just not how we do things."

(I'm not interested in how you humans do things,) Tomera said. (We won't waste time fighting with you about it, because the real enemy is the Yeerks, and they're out there. But we're not going to let you believe you're in charge of us, either.) He turned to Ax. (Aristh, I order you to come with us. We will set up the framework for the _Andalite _resistance here on Earth.) Ax looked torn, and Tomera's stalk eyes narrowed again. (That is a direct order, Aristh. Say goodbye to your human friends. It is time for the real war to begin.)


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Jake shook his head sadly. I could tell that this was what he'd been afraid of from the very beginning, and I guess I had been being stupid to think that all Andalites would have been as willing to help us as Ax. We'd only ever known him and his brother, but from what we knew about the species, I guess it shouldn't have been any sort of surprise to me. '_I guess we should be grateful that we had Ax fighting with us for as long as we did,_' I told myself. '_I should be happy for him – at least he's not alone anymore._'

Ax was staring at the ground with his main eyes. He had one stalk eye on Jake, and one on Tomera. Given his submissive stance, his voice was strong when he spoke. (No,) he simply told Tomera.

(No?) Coloton repeated, stunned. I swear, his hand inched toward the handheld shredder that was holstered in his bandoleer. (No? What do you mean, _no_, Aristh?)

Ax's head came up, and he glared at Coloton with three of his four eyes. ('No' is a very simple word with only one meaning,) he said harshly. (We came here to rescue you, to bring you into the resistance, as you requested in your call for help. If you choose not to join us, we wish you a fond farewell and all the luck in the worlds. But _I _will not abandon my human friends – even if they weren't the best hope for defeating the Yeerks here on Earth, they've saved my life more times than I can easily count. Hopefully, I'll be able to return the favor. I will fight with them until I fall.)

Coloton's stalk eyes were spinning so fast that it was almost comical. Tomera stared laser beams into Ax for a solid minute, and what he said next surprised all of us pretty good.

(Ha!) he barked a loud laugh, making all of us jump. It was a tense situation, and laughing was the last thing any of us expected. (Ha ha! You really _are_ Elfangor's little brother, aren't you?) Tomera nudged Coloton, who didn't seem nearly as amused at the situation. (This Aristh has some spine, standing up to two full warriors, eh?) He stepped forward and offered his hand to Jake, which he shook. (Don't look so surprised,) he told Jake of the handshake. (I am an expert in Xenobiology, especially humans. I know many of your customs, _Prince _Jake.) The emphasis he placed on the word _Prince _seemed to strike his funny bone, and he laughed again.

(You were right,) Coloton said, his voice full of wonder. (The humans actually have a resistance in place. It's small…but they're _children_,) he said, mostly to himself.

Jake was smiling, now. "You were testing us," he said to Tomera, not quite accusing. "You wanted to see how committed we were to fighting the Yeerks."

Tomera shrugged unapologetically, and did his eyes-only Andalite smile. (I had to. If you were only using the power Elfangor gave you out of desperation, if you were willing to let someone take the fight away from you, Coloton and I could never put our lives in your hands.)

"We could never do that. You two only have your lives to lose. We stand to lose _everything_ – our families, our homes, our _species_," Marco said, and he was grinning, too. Tomera kept smiling, just gave Marco a little bow of acknowledgement.

(You know, for a couple of stuck-up aliens, I think I could like these guys,) Tobias told us privately. The comment seemed to make Jake think of something he'd almost forgotten. He looked at Tobias.

"You think you could do a little scouting for us, buddy?" Jake asked him. "See if the Visser's decided to start combing the woods for us yet? He _is _annoyingly persistent, and he doesn't like being thwarted." Tobias agreed amicably, and flapped hard for altitude.

(You have faced Visser Three before?) Coloton asked, and there was a tone of disbelief about the question.

"You'd better believe it," Rachel said, grinning fiercely. "That Andalite-controller jerk has been doing his best to personally wipe us out of the history books since the beginning. He's lucky he's still breathing. His number is gonna come up, soon," she promised.

Coloton and Tomera exchanged a glance, and Coloton said, (Oh, I believe I like her.) Rachel's grin grew even wider.

I stepped forward. "I'm Cassie," I said, and even though he'd just done it with Jake, I was still a little surprised when Tomera offered me his hand. The others followed my lead and formally introduced themselves. The Andalites did the same, using their full names.

"That's not going to work," Marco said, and the Andalites looked confused. "The names, the names," he specified. "Tomera's easy enough – you're Tom." Tomera actually looked amused at the human nickname. Marco put his finger on his chin and thought. "What was the last part of your name?" he asked Coloton.

(Shamtul-Andruss,) he replied.

"Andruss. Andy?" Coloton shrugged as if he didn't care what Marco called him. "Cool, it's settled. Well, Tom, Andy…welcome to Earth," he announced grandly, throwing his arms out as if he were making a big, important speech. We, the humans, snickered at him – the Andalites just bowed as if acknowledging the official welcome.

I realized something, and asked the question as it occurred to me. "Coloton…Andy…Shamtul was Elfangor's last name, too. Does that mean that you're related? That you're related to Ax?"

Tom fielded the question for Andy neatly. (Andalite naming conventions are different than your own. Andalites used to be separated into tribes, with one great leader, or founder, each. Over time, all the tribes blended, but the tradition of being named after our original great leader in some part of our name never died. It only means that Shamtul was in both of our fathers' bloodline, at some point. Only the first son is required to carry the name – that is why young Aximili does not carry it.)

"Neat," I said, for lack of a better word. Marco snickered. Another question rose to the tip of my tongue, but it was interrupted by thought-speech from above.

(Hey guys!) Tobias sounded out of breath. (They're still a few miles out, but a couple of Yeerk transports have dropped a search team at the battle site. They're heading this way – slowly for now, but they're coming.)

"What are we looking at?" Jake said to Ax, who called the question up to Tobias for him.

(Looks like search pairs, about a dozen of them – one Hork-bajir, one Taxxon each. The Hork-bajir seem to be clearing a path for the Taxxons – I think they're the bloodhound Taxxons we've seen before, the ones who follow scent.)

(Trackers,) Coloton said disdainfully. (They are a non-issue. The dozen Hork-bajir are formidable, but between the eight of us, no match.) I felt a jolt as he said "eight of us." It had been only six for so long – eight sounded like a much, much larger number.

Tomera looked to Jake, and once again, smiled with his eyes. (Orders, _Prince _Jake?)


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **Sincerely, thank you again to everyone taking the time to review. It's still only a small percentage of the readers, but I don't expect anything else out of the jerks on this site. To those of you that are, I love you and you're awesome. Please continue to motivate my sorry ass!

Chapter 10

Jake thought for a short moment. "What sort of weapons do you have?" he asked the Andalites.

Coloton, or Andy, didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked to his partner. (He is a true leader. He does not want to postulate a plan without knowing what resources he has available.)

"Ahem," Marco coughed. "We're right here."

Andy laughed. (We have several proton charges, like the ones we used to destroy the Yeerk transport. We were also able to salvage two handheld shredders from our ship. Mine is at…72% of full charge,) he reported after checking the meter at the back of the weapon. Tomera reported his to be at about half-charge.

"Okay. Tobias, can you head north? Find us a small clearing? We can lead them into an ambush," Jake asked, and Tobias agreed.

(We have _kafit _morphs,) Tomera said. (We could simply fly away from here. Destroying two dozen controllers is hardly going to turn the tide of the battle.)

Jake was already shaking his head before Tomera was finished speaking. "They picked up the scent of Andalites, and from what Ax told us, Taxxon trackers won't ever lose the scent once they've got it. We can't take the chance of them picking it up again and following you home." Again, the two Andalites exchanged a glance, and if I was reading it correctly, they were once again impressed. "If you can spare a charge or two, we'll lead them into a minefield and blow them to hell – that ought to keep your backs clear to go home with Ax." Jake looked to us, his human companions. "Guys? Morphs that can travel – wolves, or something like it." He began to morph to tiger again.

Rachel shot me a meaningful glance, one that said she was excited to be able to finally try out our new morphs. A light coat of course, dark blond hair began to cover her, and I focused on the mountain lion morph, myself.

The first thing I noticed is that the shrinking was slight – I thinned out a little, muscle groups rearranged themselves, but I stayed basically the same size. As the joints in my arms and legs reversed and I fell forward to the ground, the world took on a different, duller tone. Colors turned into different shades of mostly grey, white, and black. The vision would be perfect for nighttime, and was far more suited to seeing movement than anything else. The other senses sharpened exponentially – I could locate everyone simply by the sense of smell, and I could hear their heartbeats. The Andalites confused the bobcat's brain – they _looked _like prey animals, but the tail blades were something the bobcat had never encountered. It wasn't scared of them, but it was definitely wary.

As the long tail stretched out behind me, my sense of balance became solid and automatic. I would be able to walk down steep, rocky declines without any problem at all, and I'd be able to stay silent while I did it. The soft pads on my feet added to the mountain lion's stealth factor – not even dead leaves would crunch under my gentle footsteps. I was low to the ground, powerful, sneaky, and deadly.

(These cats are like ninjas,) Rachel noted. She deftly leapt on top of a nearby pile of rocks and quickly slunk out of sight down the other side, silent as a ghost. (Very, very cool.)

I noticed Marco in timberwolf morph eyeing me. (No fair,) Marco complained. (You guys got panther morphs without me?)

I laughed. (Not panther – bobcat. Or cougar, or mountain lion…you can call them anything, basically, except for a panther. And it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. Don't worry, the girl we borrowed the DNA from will be at the center for another month, at least. You can pick up the morph next time you're there,) I promised.

(Sure, if we're not eaten by the Taxxon Hounds of Baskerville, first,) he said, but even Marco had to make the pessimism sound forced.

Just then, the bobcat caught wind of something else, and before I could control it, I spun to face off with Jake. The cougar is a solitary animal, and she _definitely _did not like having a bigger cat than her around – I instinctively fluffed up to make myself as big as possible and let out a warning _Yoooow!_

Jake stayed still until I could get my morph under control, which I did quickly. (Sorry, sorry,) I said.

I belatedly noticed the Andalites staring at us with bug-eyes. (Fantastic,) Tomera said, his voice full of wonder. (A _much _more appropriate form for fighting than the human body.)

(Got what you need,) Tobias said as he shot by overhead. (Two and a half miles north by northeast. The forest thickens into a natural funnel, into a small clearing. The choke point is only big enough for maybe two Taxxons at a time – they'll have to go almost single-file to get in.)

(Perfect,) Jake said. (Andalites in the rear, please – that'll leave the strongest scent in for the Taxxons. Once we hit Tobias' choke point, we'll set the charges and hide out in the clearing. If we don't get them all in the blast, we'll fall on whoever's left and take them out. Questions?) No one had any. (Good. Let's move out.) I took it as a sign of faith that our new Andalite friends simply followed us without any comments.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I had no trouble traveling the two-plus miles to Tobias' ambush site in the bobcat morph. The bobcat was deceptive in almost every way imaginable…no way it was ever going to outdistance a wolf, but it still had energy for days. Quiet, too – did I mention that? I don't believe nature could have designed a better ambush predator, and that's exactly what it was – the bobcat was constantly looking for signs of prey animals, like a stray hoofprint or fresh droppings. In addition, it was constantly analyzing the terrain – elevation was a big deal to this cat. She wanted to be above everything, potential prey, other predators, didn't matter. This cat understood that elevation equaled an advantage, and staying on flat ground went against her nature.

As we approached the choke point Tobias spoke of, my morph was in heaven. Boulders formed a natural funnel, he was right about that – anything looking to make its way into the clearing ahead would have to pass through a passage that was hardly six feet wide. The bobcat wanted to climb the rock wall and lay in wait to drop on any unsuspecting animal that wanted to get to the clearing to feed on the lush grasses and sweet water hole there. The natural hallway formed by the rock was also perfect for the sort of ambush Jake had in mind, too.

(Okay, guys,) Jake said. (Place your charges where you think we'll catch the most of them at one time – if you can collapse some of this rock onto them, all to the good.) The Andalites had a quick discussion, and carefully hid three explosives at key points in the rocks. Ax studied them like he was going to be quizzed on it later. Everyone moved into the clearing and started hiding out to lay in wait.

(I'll stay behind,) Ax said confidently. (Just enough so that the Yeerks can catch a glimpse of me when they get into range. Then I'll run through the funnel into the clearing. The Yeerks will be focused on not losing me, and they should charge straight into the trap.)

Tomera looked impressed. (A sound strategy, Aximili,) he said, and I could tell Ax was pretty pleased with the praise. (Brave, as well. Keep this up, and I'll be forced to promote you myself before long.)

Jake sounded less excited about Ax being so eager to put himself in harm's way. (Okay, Ax…but don't push the timing. As _soon_ as they see you, full speed into the clearing. Right?)

(Yes, Prince Jake,) Ax said. Tomera and Coloton did not comment on Ax's easy use of the Andalite rank applied to a human.

Coloton and Tomera each found some cover, from which they could see the ambush point but were more or less hidden from view. Belatedly, I asked them, (Do either of you have any battle morphs?)

Coloton looked a little jealous of us as he replied, (We each have acquired a _Kafit _bird morph. Warriors must pass a morphing proficiency test, but only spies distract themselves with finding other forms to morph. We are the most dangerous life form on our planet – therefore, a warrior has no need of acquiring anything else.)

(Well, _this _planet has lots of dangerous life forms,) Rachel said, and she actually sounded like she was bragging. (We'll get you guys set up with some battle morphs soon enough.)

(For this, however, we need our fingers in order to trigger the charges and operate our shredders,) Tomera said a little defensively. (We will explore your planet's biology at a later time.)

Tobias was wheeling overhead, high enough that I had to strain to hear him. (You guys should either smell or hear them, soon,) he warned. (They're getting close, coming together with the terrain. They're setting themselves up beautifully for the trap.) I lay still for a moment, and sure enough, my upturned ears began to pick up the swishing noises of large animals moving through heavy brush. My rear end twitched in anticipation – the bobcat wasn't sure if it was a fight or a meal that was coming, but she was ready for either.

We all stayed still and quiet, waiting for Ax's signal that they were onto him. Everybody had their various animal senses turned up to full alert. I actually heard the Hork-bajir's bellow before Ax had a chance to say, (Get ready, they saw me!) He came charging through the passageway into the clearing as the Hork-bajir continued to shout, "_Hruthin! Andalite ahead!_"

Tobias said a word I won't repeat. (Jake, the Hork-bajir are falling for it, but the Taxxons are hanging back. They're going to let the Hork-bajir do their thing now that they've seen Ax! We shouldn't have let them see him!)

(Doesn't matter,) Jake said tensely. (Just tell us when the Hork-bajir are in the blast range – we'll take care of the Taxxons in a minute.) Tomera fingered a small device eagerly – it looked like the keyless entry button to my mom's minivan.

They were getting close – I could smell their alien scent now as well as hear them. (Now!) Tobias yelled, and Tomera didn't waste any time. He pressed his button, and after a half-second delay, a shock wave nearly lifted me off of the ground. The roar of the explosives made my head fuzzy, but I still heard Tobias. (Yeeee-HAW! You got at least ten of them with that one shot! Now the Taxxons are frozen – they don't know which way to go. Jake, hit the Hork-bajir still standing _now, _before they can get it together!)

I ran flat-out toward the trap site, which was less of a hallway now, and more of a pile of smoking rock. Rachel and I pulled ahead – we were _much _faster than a tiger or a wolf, faster even than a full-grown Andalite. I barely had to slow down as I reached the jagged pile of rocks that used to be a passageway – the bobcat instinctively knew where to place its feet to stay moving at top speed. I spotted a Hork-bajir sitting on the ground, holding his head in obvious pain. I squashed the sympathy I wanted to feel for the creature, and hit him at nearly forty miles per hour. The bobcat deftly dodged the blades and wrapped around his midsection, and the force of the hit set the alien tumbling. I went in for the kill, a death-bite to his exposed, snake-like neck. Two violent shakes of my head later, it was all over.

I saw that Rachel had just as handily dispatched the other Hork-bajir, and my friends flew past us, on toward the Taxxons. (Just hit them once and keep moving!) Jake was yelling. (The other Taxxons will finish the job!) I raced to catch up, and got to the site of the second fight just as Jake flayed open the lead Taxxon with a brutal claw swipe.

"SHREEEE!" the Taxxon screamed, and his brothers closest to him were no longer indecisive as to their next move – they fell on him with violent delight. Jake climbed the back of another one, leaving gashes in its sausage-casing skin, and suddenly it was no longer a fight – it was a feeding frenzy.

Tobias called down directions from the air. (Rachel, twenty yards left, uninjured Taxxon!) I saw Rachel change direction at full speed, kicking up dust as she hit the target Tobias had pointed out. The enraged and ravenous cries of the Taxxons were fading. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tomera and Coloton pointing their shredders, but they couldn't find an uninjured Taxxon to shoot at. The speed and ferocity of our attack had demolished their ranks in mere seconds.

(That's the last of them!) Tobias called down to us. (The Yeerks sent a second wave, but they're just starting out. When they see this, they're going to think twice about how bad they actually want to find us.)

(I know you're tired, guys – one more morph. This time, get some feathers. We are outta here,) Jake said. I saw the two Andalite warriors touch their tail blades together, probably their version of a high-five. They immediately ran to Ax to include him in the brief celebration before they began morphing.

There weren't many straight-up fights between us and the Yeerks that we could call a total, one-sided win. This one had to qualify in that category. I was a little disturbed at the violent scene we were leaving behind, but sadly, it was something I was beginning to see as a necessary evil. I was still sad for the loss of life, but as Marco had once said, we never asked for them to come here and start this fight. We never asked for it. But we were going to deal with it.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It was starting to get dark outside by the time we got back to Ax's little part of the forest. Jake and Rachel were fretting about getting home for dinner – all of us humans, except for Marco, had nightly sit-down meals with our folks. Marco's dad had recently gotten his old job as a computer programmer back and was always at work, so Marco was left to fend for himself a lot. I would have worried about him, but he seemed genuine when he said that he preferred it that way.

My parents did their best to have dinner on the table at the same time every night, but I had a little more freedom than the others when it came to curfews and such. I often felt guilty, like I was taking advantage of them – the simple fact was that my parents trusted me completely. While most parents would assume their kid was getting into trouble if they were late, my parents just naturally figured I had a good reason. I tried to tell myself often that I _did _have a good reason – I mean, let's face it, saving the human race is as good a reason to be late for supper as any. But that didn't make it any easier when I had to lie and make up excuses.

Marco and Tobias stayed behind with me as the Andalites got settled into their new temporary home. Ax was more than happy to have them, and even though the scoop was small, it was only for shelter from inclement weather and to keep their possessions dry. Andalites didn't sleep much, and when they did, it was standing in the open with one stalk eye cracked. They're a very watchful species.

Marco and I stayed for different reasons. I assumed that Marco was too disturbed by the inconsistencies of Tomera and Coloton's presence to be able to rest easy until he got some answers. Marco's like that – if he feels like someone's trying to get one over on him or his friends, he'll hound them until he's satisfied. I didn't exactly feel like we were being misled, but I was aware enough to know we were definitely being purposely under-informed.

My reason for hanging back was simple – I was worried about Ax. This was supposed to be a happy time for him, but I didn't know anything about his two new companions. Even if I took them at their word and assumed they were here simply to join the fight against the Yeerks, that still left some variables. It sounds funny, but I actually trusted the two of them _more _when they had been acting all superior. I couldn't put my finger on it, but from everything Ax had told us about his species, it just seemed _off _that they'd just accept Jake as their new Prince and call it a day.

Apparently, Marco was bothered by the same thing. "So, which one of you is in charge?" he asked the two newcomers bluntly.

It was Coloton that answered. (We are battle partners. Neither of us ranks above the other. We were assigned to a Prince, but he died from his injuries as we came to this planet.)

Marco's eyes narrowed. "Yeah…I've been meaning to ask you about that. How exactly did that happen? Not to mention, you said earlier that you broke orders by even coming here…what did you mean?"

Even though he'd just said that Tomera wasn't in charge of him, I didn't miss the stalk-eye-glance Coloton shot him. Tomera shrugged and made a "go ahead" gesture, as if he was giving permission for Coloton to answer. Coloton gave a tiny head shake, as if to say, "no, it's not my place." Marco's eyes narrowed further until they were nothing but slits. He hadn't missed the exchange either, and he was sketched out by the whole thing.

Tomera gave a sigh in thought speech. (If we are going to be comrades-in-arms, I suppose we need to be completely honest with you. Do not take our secrecy as a slight against you – Coloton's job is to protect me.)

(I go on record as not liking this, Amora,) Coloton blurted, and when he said this, two things happened at once. Ax instantly folded his legs beneath his body and laid out across the ground in an insane-looking bow, and Marco ignored Ax and actually snapped his fingers at Tomera.

"Yo! What is this "Amora" stuff? You said your name was Tomera," he said, frustrated. Tomera actually laughed easily.

(My name _is _Tomera, Marco,) he said, and the tone of his voice helped me to relax. I've always had a sixth sense about when people we being honest, and I could hear the relief in Tomera's voice – he was glad to be able to tell us the truth. (Amora is a title. It is just a dumb, inherited title that has been working against me at every turn for my entire life.) Tomera seemed to realize that Ax was still on the ground. (Get up, Aximili. Please. That is unnecessary.) Ax unsurely got to his feet, and Tomera graced him with an Andalite smile. (Your brother was my mentor at the Academy. He was my equal and my friend. I cannot tell you how glad I am to be able to serve the People with you, his brother.)

Tomera turned to Marco and I. (I am what you humans would call royalty,) he said, sounding embarrassed. (Our government is democratic, but there is still a ruling class integrated from the Old Times. My father is the Omura. It means…) he looked to Coloton for help, who shrugged.

Ax supplied the words for him, sounding breathless even in thought speech. (King. Omura means King, in your language. And the Amora is the next in line for that title.)

**A/N: **Thank you to 9aza, iris129, and obstanleycat for the continued reviews! And I love you new reviewers, Ember Nickel and Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay, too! Hope I didn't leave anyone out…if I did, call me on it in your next review! Oh, and Hawjabran, stop being so damn insightful in _your _reviews, lol. Here I go, thinking I'm being all twisty and sneaky and creative, and you basically caught every piece of foreshadowing I tried to hide. Nice work and thank you for reviewing, dude!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

(Your dad is the king of the Andalites?) Tobias asked incredulously, and I jumped – I'd almost forgotten he was there.

Tomera laughed heartily. (My father does not _really _control anything. The Council listens to him because it is tradition to do so. I've always thought it was ridiculous – a title that is not earned does not truly entitle anything. That is why I went against my family's wishes and joined the military – I am the first of the royal line to do so in sixty years.)

(Sixty _Andalite _years,) Coloton corrected proudly. (In human terms, it has been over four hundred years since a member of the royal family has put themselves in danger by participating in military action.)

(But after graduating the Academy, I realized that it was nearly pointless for me to have joined,) Tomera said, and I could feel his frustration. (I was assigned to a Prince whose only order was to keep me out of danger. Time and time again, we stayed out of conflicts where our presence could have been used. Not only was _I _being prevented from fighting, but the entire Dome ship I was stationed on was rendered useless. Over nine hundred Andalite warriors, _purposely _kept out of action, all because of some silly title my father passed on to me. I had to act.)

Coloton picked up the story. (Technically, I am the most hunted war criminal in the Andalite military. Tomera and I rigged the duty-assignment computer to bring up our names for a routine scouting mission, very low risk. Of course, our Prince would not let us take a Model 22 out unattended, and insisted on accompanying us. Once we were away, I faked a computer malfunction and jumped us into this solar system.)

(He did all of this on my orders, mind you,) Tomera interjected. (Earth was the closest conflict without an Andalite presence, so that's where I ordered him to take us. My father is holding up the Council's decision to come to Earth in force, even though it is our responsibility to stop the Yeerks. I decided this was where I would make my stand, against my father _and _against the Yeerks. This is my fight, and I am ecstatic to be here. Your _Prince,_ Jake, is the first commander of _any _species that has been willing to let me fight. That is why I will follow him. I cannot begin to describe how impressed I am by his – and your – bravery.)

"Aren't you scared?" I asked him, trying to put myself in his shoes. "You're cut off, alone. And this course you've taken has put your friend in a bad position, Tomera – Coloton sounds like he's in big trouble for this."

(It is true. I will be held responsible for everything, from the kidnapping of the Amora down to being responsible for the death of our Prince. I will be _kashormed –_ my tail will be cut off. I will then endure ten days of public humiliation before I am put to death,) Coloton said lightly. (Does that put our willingness to fight with you into perspective? I have no incentive to ever return to our people.)

"I guess it does," Marco said. He was looking at the two Andalites with admiration, and I could tell his suspicions had been laid to rest. "That's…wow. That's a heck of a story. But you know, you did leave out one thing. Jake is letting you fight with us, but he doesn't know any of this. It's his right to change his mind about it once we tell him."

(True. But I don't believe he will,) Tomera said. (He cares more about saving his planet than some quarreling in Andalite politics, does he not?)

I thought about that, and realized that Tomera was probably right. Jake would do what was best for _our _cause – if this Andalite, royalty or not, wanted to help us out, he'd be willing to take it. "We still have to let him decide, Tomera," I told him.

(Not to mention Ax's stake in all this,) Tobias pointed out. (Will he be held accountable for fighting with you?)

(Never,) Tomera said vehemently. (I would _never _allow Elfangor's brother to suffer for a decision that I made. He is a hero – an aristh doing what he's done is unheard of. I am so proud of him, and I know his family will be, too.)

Tobias spoke to Marco and I privately. (Well, I think we can be sure that these two aren't going to take Ax and run off. I'll stay with them and try to get more of the big picture – you guys should probably head home, huh?) Once again, I couldn't help but be impressed by Tobias. He had so many things to worry about, and he still showed concern for the minor things in the rest of our lives.

"Yeah…guys, you think you'll be okay for the night?" I asked the Andalites.

Coloton looked confused. (Do you humans have a different base camp somewhere?)

"We still live at home, with our parents," I told him. "The Yeerks don't know who we are. They actually think we're Andalite bandits," I said with a smile.

Coloton and Tomera had a big laugh at that. Tomera got serious and asked, (But how do you know you can trust your families? How do you know that they aren't controllers?)

Marco answered. "We don't. They don't know what we do…what we are. Jake's brother actually _is_ a high-ranking controller. We're very careful to keep this part of our lives a secret from everybody…which includes going to school. And homework. And the god dang report I have to do on the War of 1812, due in roughly thirteen hours. Ugh…Cassie, you think maybe I could peek at yours? I know you already have it finished."

I actually had forgotten all about that assignment. "Oh! Sorry, you're on your own, Marco…I'm going to have to scramble to have something to turn in, myself. I guess we'd better get going." I opened my hands to our new allies in the Andalite gesture of greeting and farewell, and the two of them eye-smiled, surprised. "Tomera, Coloton…no matter what Jake decides, I'm very happy to have met you. Thank you for your help today."

(Thank _you _for yours,) Tomera told me. (We will see you tomorrow? And you, Marco?)

"We'll come by after school," Marco promised. "Take it easy, guys." He started morphing osprey to travel home, and I followed his lead.

"Bye, Tobias. See you tomorrow," I told him, seconds before my lips hardened and pushed out into a beak.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

I suppressed a major yawn as I drug my feet to catch the bus. I'd had to stay up late to get my report done – around two am, I was satisfied that I had a B paper on my hands and shut down my computer. I'd had a much harder time shutting off my brain. Despite Tomera's assurance that his presence here wouldn't come back on Ax (and us, by association,) it was still a cause for concern to me. I mean, we were all holding out for the Andalites to get here and save us, but it wouldn't really help if they got here, wiped out the Yeerks, and declared the humans to be a bunch of Prince-snatching criminals. I planned to have a private, in-depth conversation with Ax about it as soon as possible, but for now, I had to get through school.

Marco caught me outside of the classroom we shared for first period, and he looked about as tired as I felt. "Hey. Did you get your paper done?"

I nodded. "You?"

He grimaced. "I ended up buying one online. I tried, but there was no way I was gonna be able to get a decent report together in time. I'm at a C right now in history, and this paper is twenty percent of our grade."

"Twenty percent?" I asked, my voice going up into the squeaky range. I mean, I'd known it was sort of a big deal, but twenty percent? "Great. I'm barely holding onto an A average as it is."

He laughed. "I'll trade grades with you," he offered, and I grinned back as we took our seats. I saw him fold his hands in prayer as class started, and I _think _he was mouthing the words, "Please forget about the paper, please forget about the paper." Of course, the first thing the teacher did was ask us to pass our reports forward to the front of the row. He declared a free study period while he started grading them, and I pulled out a notebook and started doodling. The paper was over and done with – all I could do was hope for leniency when it came to the grade. The Andalites in the forest were foremost on my mind.

"Marco?" Mr. Wright called about halfway through the period. "Did you have a tough time getting your report done in time?"

I saw Marco gulp. "Um, not really," he lied. "Why?"

Mr. Wright held up the last page of his report. "I was just wondering why it says 'cheap term papers dot com' at the bottom." The whole class burst out into a chorus of "Oooooh!" as Marco slammed his head down forcefully onto his desk. "Please take this to Mr. Chapman and explain the situation to him. I'll expect your _real _report tomorrow morning, and your grade will start out at a C for being late." Marco shot me a desperate glance as he went to the front of the room to comply, and I gave him a sympathetic look.

Marco didn't return before the bell sounded to end first period, and I took that as a bad sign. Jake was waiting for me outside of my class, but before I could tell him what had happened to Marco, he handed me a note. "Gotta go," he said quietly. "Just wanted to let somebody know where I was." He spared a second to give me a smile, the crooked one he seemed to save just for me, then he was gone. I skimmed the note on the way to my second class. Tobias had apparently explained the situation with the Andalites to him while Jake was in his own first period class, and Jake thought it was important enough to skip the rest of school to deal with it. He didn't say in his note what, if anything, he'd decided to do about it – he just asked me to get everyone to meet at the Center after school.

I knew that Marco had gym right before lunch, and apparently Chapman was done chewing him out by the time it rolled around – I caught him before he got inside the boy's locker room. I quickly explained what Jake wanted, and Marco looked glum. "Tell him I'm going to be late – I've got detention for the rest of the week. I'll try to pull a fire alarm or something to get out of it, but yeah, I'll probably be late." I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not.

I took my normal seat at lunch, and Rachel was already there, staring out of the floor-to-ceiling window. She was chewing absentmindedly on some fries and didn't seem to notice my arrival. "Earth to Rachel. What's up?"

"Huh? Oh, hey. Just thinking about our…friends," she said. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they're here…I just can't put my finger on what's up with them."

I realized that Rachel was the only one still out of the loop as it pertained to our new allies. "It's a long story. Jake's dealing with it right now – we're going to meet at my house after school to discuss it."

She nodded nonchalantly, looking around to see if anyone was paying attention to our conversation. "Big deal?" she asked calmly, but I could tell she was keyed up over it.

"I don't know. Maybe. Probably not for us – maybe for Ax and for them," I said, not wanting to be that vague with Rachel, but not really having a choice in the middle of the crowded lunchroom. She understood and nodded. "Like I said, meeting at the Center right after school about it. We'll figure it out." Rachel relaxed about two hairs, but still looked tense.

I followed her gaze through the window, and I spotted what she was staring at – a large bird surfing on the thermals maybe a half a mile away. "That who I think it is?" I asked.

She nodded. "He's been hanging around all day, but hasn't said anything to me. Got me a little freaked," she admitted.

"Probably just bored – he spent all night in some strange company. Maybe he's just looking for a little normalcy."

"Yeah. You're probably right," she said, flipping the fry she'd been twirling in her fingers onto the tray. I noticed that her burger was untouched. "I'm gonna go for a walk before class – see you this afternoon." She got up, dumped her tray, and left the cafeteria without so much as a goodbye. '_She's distracted – she'll be all right,_' I told myself. I thought that maybe there was something going on between her and Tobias, something she didn't want to talk about, and decided to give her some space. Knowing Rachel, if there _was_ something going on, it would come out at the worst possible time. '_One problem at a time,_' I told myself, thinking of the Andalites. Two and a half more hours, then I'd be able to take an active role in helping to solve that problem. '_One problem at a time._'


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Rachel rode the bus home with me, and she was still quiet, which was pretty unlike Rachel. Finally, I flat-out asked her if anything was wrong. She shrugged. "Not really, just got a lot on my mind. I have the feeling we're going to be busy this weekend, and my mom has to be at the office to prepare for a big trial – I'm supposed to stay home all weekend to watch my sisters."

I wanted to tell her that it was no big deal, that we could handle things without her for a day or two. What I actually said was, "Huh. Well, what can you do?"

Rachel nodded. "Exactly. I mean, of course I'm getting paid – I forgot what it was like to have extra cash." I rolled my eyes – Rachel had the credit card her dad had given her, and she knew how to use it. I knew what she meant, though – it was a nice feeling to have some money in your pocket, nothing in particular to spend it on, a sunny day in front of you…sometimes I felt like an old woman. Like those were the good old days, and they were far behind me. "But if something comes up and I have to bail, and my mom finds out I dipped out and left Sara and Jordan at home alone…" She shook her head. "Not to mention, if something bad happened to them while I was supposed to be watching, I'd never be able to forgive myself."

"Lucky for you, you've got two psycho-about-duty new friends to fill in for you if something _does _go down this weekend," I told her, and she chewed that over and almost instantly brightened up a little.

"Yeah, you're right. Not like Jake'd have a shortage of volunteers for a suicide mission," she laughed. "Even if I were there, they'd probably beat me to the punch." I continued to try to cheer her up, and by the time the bus stopped in front of my house, I could tell that I'd done a good job of it. She continued to chatter away as I got to work, first feeding and watering the patients, then checking the charts to start to administer meds. I paid special attention as I gave the bobcat her pain medication, and felt a little silly as I whispered my thanks to her for letting us use her DNA.

Tobias was the first to join us in the Center. As usual, I was a little floored by how Rachel's mood affected his own – within seconds of arriving and seeing Rachel's good spirits, he was optimistically chatting the both of us up. I liked it when Tobias was in a good mood, so I didn't really care how it came about – I was just grateful for it. The guy didn't have a whole lot to be happy about, most of the time.

A few moments later, Jake and Ax arrived in bird morph. Jake demorphed and pulled the gym bag he kept at the barn out of a locker and quickly dressed, and when Ax was finished taking on his human form, he helped him put on the other pair of shorts and t-shirt. As he finally got Ax to pull his head out of the sleeve and put it through the neck-hole, he grinned at us. "What's up? We just waiting on Marco?"

"Oh, yeah," I said. "Marco's going to be a little late…he got a few detentions for an indiscretion involving a term paper," I said. Jake just grinned wider and shook his head, and Marco's voice surprised us all as he walked into the barn.

"The only indiscretion was forgetting to delete the url from the paper," he said, and instantly went to the sink and started scrubbing his hands. "Did you know our fire alarms shoot purple ink on you when you pull 'em?" he asked conversationally, and we all had a pretty good laugh.

"Okay," Jake said in his getting-down-to-business voice. "I had a nice, long talk with our friends today. I haven't decided what to do with them – I wanted to get your opinions." We quickly filled Rachel in on the situation, and Jake turned to Ax.

"Now that it's just us, what do you think?" he asked him. Ax put down the rubber glove he'd been playing with.

"Amora Tomera and his aide, Coloton, are who they say they are. I recognize his voice from planetary broadcasts. The only reason I didn't know what he looked like is because it is considered taboo to take holograms of the royal family."

"Good to know," Jake said. "But what effect is their presence here going to have on us?"

Ax shrugged. "It is impossible to say, although the Amora has promised me that we won't be held responsible for anything that happens to him. You see, if he ever gets back into contact with High Command, he's decided to tell them that he lied to us about who he is. He genuinely cares about our mission here. He is a good person, and is convinced that the human race is worth saving at any cost."

"Are you sure about that?" Marco asked, but he didn't ask in a confrontational way. Ax nodded.

"What are you thinking, Marco?" Jake asked him.

Marco gave up trying to get the ink off of his hand. "Well, as grateful as I am for the direct support they want to provide for us, I think that's small picture. If they stay, that's two more Andalites fighting the, what, million Yeerks that are here? But what if the King Andalite's son was to go back home and tell the people what's going on?" He turned to Ax. "What would the military do if the Amora insisted that they send some Dome ships to Earth, pronto?"

"They would send them," Ax said. Oddly enough, I had a harder time reading Ax's human expressions than I did his Andalite ones, but it was pretty clear that Marco's idea hadn't occurred to him. "The people support the royal family. They would send them immediately."

Marco looked triumphant. "So doesn't it make sense to get them home? How long is that trip, Ax?"

Ax thought for a short minute. "Assuming the _Farfanon _Z-space rift is still at full mass effect, perhaps six Earth-weeks."

Marco bowed to our invisible applause. "I think it's pretty clear what we gotta do," he said. "We carjack a Bug fighter and send Tom home. In three or four months, the Andalites will be here to pound the Yeerks into slime."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

(No, I do not think that would be the best course of action,) Tomera said flatly.

We had made the short trip to Ax's scoop to present our idea to Tomera and Coloton. On the way, my friends had decided that I would be the one to make the pitch – for some reason, the others thought I would make the best spokesperson to appeal to the Andalites, and Ax agreed with them. I'd laid out the situation for Tomera and Coloton as plain as I could, and made it clear that this wasn't an order of any kind – I, we, were appealing for their help. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't a flat refusal.

"What do you mean?" Marco asked incredulously. "I don't know if you noticed it on your way in, but the Yeerks sort of have us outnumbered, here. The eight of us could do three missions a day for ten years, and we'd be lucky to even slow them down."

(I am thinking of Coloton, of course,) Tomera said. (He is my _shorm _– by bringing him back into Andalite space, I would be sentencing him to death.)

(So leave him here!) Tobias almost shouted. (Can't you see that this is a little more important than any personal stuff you might have going on?)

(Marco is right, Amora,) Coloton spoke up. (I believe that even if I were put to death, it would be worth it.) He tried to do an Andalite smile, he tried to look cocky, but he didn't quite get there. (After all is said and done, my sacrifice would be remembered by the people. By our people a_nd _the humans.)

Tomera ignored him and answered Tobias. (I cannot fly a Yeerk craft by myself. Coloton would have to come with me, and that is simply not an option. I will not be responsible for the death of my _shorm_.)

Rachel looked like she was about to hit somebody. "You're freaking _royalty_, Tomera. Don't you Andalites have things like royal pardons? Are you telling me there's no way you'd be able to take responsibility for your own actions and take the blame off of Coloton? Because I don't buy that for a minute."

It was Coloton who answered her. (No. An Andalite starfighter was stolen. A Prince was killed. Someone will have to be held responsible, and it is my responsibility. I accepted the task of keeping the Amora safe when I was very young, and I willingly put him into danger, and broke several laws to do it. The oath I took to die before allowing any potential harm to come to Tomera was willingly broken – it is my place to take responsibility. Right this moment, I am shamed by hiding here on Earth. The only way I can possibly redeem myself in any way is to stay with Tomera and defend him, physically.) He seemed on the verge of desperation, something he'd hidden very well, before.

"I still say it's your fault, Tomera," Rachel said bluntly. "Coloton had a responsibility to protect you, and he also had a responsibility to follow your orders. You put him in an impossible situation."

Tomera looked like Rachel's words had shaken him a little. (It is a non-issue. When we made the decision to come here, we never expected to leave. The stupid title I bear did not only prevent _me_ from fighting our enemies,) he pointed out.

(The Amora is correct,) Coloton spoke up quickly. (I was also kept out of action, and I also want to fight.)

"Stalemate," Jake said. He looked as frustrated as I'd ever seen him.

(There is an option no one has considered,) Coloton said. (Aximili could help Tomera pilot a stolen craft. He could go home with the Amora. Between Elfangor's brother and Tomera, our people would absolutely have to listen.)

(No!) both Ax and Tomera yelled at the same time, and they looked at each other, surprised. Ax continued first. (I am sworn to avenge Elfangor by killing his murderer. That requires me to stay on Earth to fight Visser Three – I cannot leave while he still lives,) he insisted.

(And, if I were to return home, I would lose my one chance to resist the Yeerks,) Tomera said. (I cannot – will not – do that. I risked everything to come here to join the fight, including the life of my only true friend. I will not turn around and run away, now.)

"That's what this is really about, isn't it?" Marco accused. "You're willing to let the humans die off so you can take a few personal pot-shots at the Yeerks. If you ask me, that's more cowardly than staying out of the fight, altogether."

Coloton instinctively raised his tail at the person who'd just offended his Amora, and Ax just as quickly raised his own to defend Marco. Jake quickly stepped between them. "Whoa, whoa! This is getting out of hand!" he yelled. The Andalites relaxed, and Jake pointed at Tomera. "Look, I'm not calling anyone a coward, but Marco's right. You're more interested in your own personal stake in this than you are in helping my people. You may not believe it, but you need us to carry on this fight against your enemies. No offense, but without our help, you wouldn't last two weeks on this planet, and that's a fact. If you're not willing to do anything to help us beat the Yeerks – and that includes you doing the one thing you don't want to do – then I don't see any reason why I should roll over and accept your decision. I don't want to be a jerk, but this is my planet. My people come first. If you can't help us figure out a way to get _your _people here to help, then you're on your own. I don't want to do it, but I have to put my foot down. This is not a game, not for us. So stop playing and get serious. _Grow up_."

I watched carefully to see how these full Andalite warriors would react to being told to grow up by a child of another species. To my surprise, both of them seemed to slow down and actually consider what Jake was saying to them. Tomera shrugged helplessly, and I didn't see him giving in. He was royalty, and I didn't know if he'd ever been told no before, except for being told he wouldn't be allowed to put himself into danger. Finally, Coloton spoke up.

(Prince Jake is right, Amora,) he said, and Tomera looked at him incredulously. I guessed it was the first time Coloton hadn't taken his back 100%. (Fortunately, I see a way around all of this unpleasantness. There are two issues that prevent you from returning home – the fact that you know your father will prevent your return to Earth, and the fact that I will be put to death.) Tomera nodded. (I know how committed you are to your personal cause – to personally fight the Yeerks. I also know how committed young Aximili is to staying here to kill the Visser.) The three vertical slits on his face flared as he took a deep breath and prepared himself to say what he needed to say.

(I will morph you, permanently. You will morph the Aristh, permanently. That way, we can return home to bring the rest of the fleet to Earth. You will be allowed to return with them to fight, because everyone will think that you are Aximili. And I will not be killed – because our people will think that I am you.)


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

That night, I was in my room trying to get ahead of my homework for a change, but concentration eluded me. Tomera had been genuinely excited at Coloton's idea, which was a short-term fix, if I'd ever heard one. It would work fine for allowing the two of them to return home to gather some support and come back to Earth, but I liked to think that Ax was going to survive to return home. The truth would have to come out, then – that he'd been here the whole time, and the Amora had taken on his form, permanently. Not to mention Coloton – once Tomera's father learned that he'd taken on his son's form in order to put him into further danger, he'd be in even _more _trouble, if that was even possible.

Before they even hid their identities by morphing, though, we had to steal a Yeerk craft. It wasn't like popping the lock on a Toyota with a coathanger and hotwiring it. Between our three Andalites, they were sure that they'd be able to do it, but that was another thing I had an issue with – the more Andalites there were in one place, the more cocky they grew. It was like having several meatheads in the same room – they'd keep one-upping each other with how much they could bench press until one of them blew a vein in their forehead. Unhealthy competition, if you asked me.

Jake understood we'd actually have a minimal part in this mission – we'd distract the Yeerks, something we'd been doing a lot of, while Coloton and Tomera actually stole the Bug fighter or whatever. I was worried about what it would do to Ax to watch the only two Andalites within light-years fly away home, but he seemed happy to do whatever he could to aid the effort. He easily gave his DNA to Tomera, excited to be an integral part of the plan. After all, he was getting what he wanted – the Andalites were going to come rescue all of us, and he still got the opportunity to stay, fight, and possibly take out Visser Three.

I sighed and closed my copy of the Sherlock Holmes Collection – we were assigned stories out of it weekly for my literature class to analyze and report on. Sorry, Sir Conan Doyle - my life had more than enough mystery and intrigue to keep me busy. I logged on to the internet, looking for an easy distraction. I blew some time checking out some schools in the area and their requirements for getting in – I was still a few years away from a post-high school education, but I knew from my parents' experiences that the good jobs in veterinary medicine were rare and competitive. I knew that eventually, I'd need two more community service hours and one more fraction of a point on my GPA than the next guy. Learning these steep requirements did the opposite of motivating me – I started asking myself defeatist questions like, '_What's the point? The Boys and Girls club is going to be a Yeerk sub-base in three years anyway – why bother volunteering?_' I got angry at myself for even having these thoughts, and went to another section of the internet.

Better. I distracted myself with finding some good music. I found a cool website where you put in some of your favorite artists, and it came back with all sorts of similar bands you'd never heard of. I was actually really getting into a new band from my area when I heard voices in the hallway.

I checked the clock – 8:30. My parents would still be watching television, waiting for the local news to come on. I didn't have to wonder long before Rachel came into my room, still yelling the end of her funny story down the hall to my mom, who laughed loudly before calling, "You girls can hang out until ten-thirty, but it's a school night! Have fun!" I smiled uncertainly at Rachel – she never just did pop-in, unexpected visits anymore. Relaxing was the fact that she wasn't in morphing attire – she had on Capri pants and a stylish graphic T-shirt and was wearing her backpack, and I assumed she'd ridden her bike over.

She slung her backpack onto my bed and flopped down beside it. "What's up? I just had to get out of my house – I'm going to be stuck there all weekend, so I'm taking advantage of the freedom now. I was going to be good and get your help on some of the homework, but I just am _so _not in the mood."

I spun back to my computer, glad that there was no hidden agenda behind Rachel's visit. "Cool. I quit on homework like an hour ago, myself. Just checking out the local music scene – I've been out of it for a while." Rachel got all interested and sat forward, looking at the site I was on. She started laughing hysterically, and I had to finally ask what was so funny.

"Nothing. Marco's really into this site – I get on it a couple times a week, pretending to be a hot twenty-year old female singer that's really into him. I'm pretty sure I've got him convinced and in love with this girl. Here, type in latin_lyrical_hammer into the search box, and – yep, he's online," she giggled. I laughed too when I saw Marco's profile picture – it was obviously a much older male model or something. She looked at me diabolically. "What would spin Marco's head around faster than _one _hot older woman hitting on him?"

I laughed again. "Oh, no. This is your deal – I'm not going to run a second scam on poor Marco."

She motioned for me to give up the computer chair, which I did easily enough. "All right," she said, disappointed. "I'm going to mess with him from my account, at least." We spent the next thirty minutes laughing as Marco tried to convince us he was a twenty-six year old rapper who'd just signed a multi-million dollar record deal. After Rachel got bored of screwing with Marco, we started digging into some new music again. It was the kind of carefree, easy fun that I missed. The time flew by, and before I knew it, Rachel was being summoned by my mom.

"Rachel! Your mom just called, wanted to know if you'd be moving in with us or if you were going home tonight. I told her you'd get back to her," my mom joked, and Rachel grudgingly put her backpack on.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow," Rachel said, squeezing my shoulder. "Hopefully we'll be able to get the Andalites off-planet tomorrow afternoon, before I'm locked down at my house for the weekend." I suppressed a laugh as she left – of course Rachel was more worried about being stuck in her house for forty-eight hours than she was about stealing a Yeerk starcraft. Of course she was.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I was a little late catching up with everyone after school – I'd stayed behind to help Marco out. After the delinquents were all settled into detention, I used the pay phone across the street to call the school. I told them I was Marco's aunt, and his apartment had caught on fire. Of course, it wasn't my idea…but surprisingly, I was finding myself as Marco's "partner-in-crime" more and more. I was becoming more comfortable with helping Marco scam people, as long as it pertained to business…which worried me, when I stopped to think about. Marco isn't the world's best influence.

My thoughts were interrupted by Tobias. (Hey Cassie, hey Marco.)

I had already spotted Jake, Rachel, and Ax circling the stand of forest by the school, but I had to look for Tobias. I spotted him down in a tree, resting. The others loved flying, and so did I, but Tobias lived his life as a bird. If he didn't rest when he got the chance, his metabolism would drain his energy. (Hey, Tobias. We ready to go?) I asked.

Jake answered for him. (Tobias found what we need – he thinks it's a maintenance and refueling depot.)

(How far away is it?) Marco asked.

(Not far. It's actually inside the natatorium,) Jake told him as we started in that direction.

(The Yeerks are using the public swimming pool as a Bug fighter outpost?) Marco asked, sounding like he didn't quite believe it.

Tobias answered. (You know how they have four pools with buildings around them? Well, I noticed one of the pools is always dry, but the retractable roof is stuck open. That didn't seem to add up, so I watched it for a while. The hole in the roof is just big enough to fit a Bug fighter, which is exactly what I saw drop through the bottom of the pool – or I should say the hologram that looks like the bottom of the pool. The Bug fighter was cloaked, of course, but I can see the heat waves from their engines. The pool is always empty, like I said, but if anybody ever fell in, they'd be falling a lot farther than twelve feet.)

Marco laughed. (You have to admit, the Yeerks are pretty on their game. I mean, nobody likes to swim at the nasty-torium even when there _is _water in the pool,) he joked.

(Where are Tomera and Coloton?) I wondered. The plan was for us to provide a distraction while the two Andalites slipped in to steal their Bug fighter.

(We are here, under the canopy,) Tomera called up to me. I looked harder, and caught a glimpse of a bird flitting between the branches below us. This bird was obviously not from around here – it was too neon green to be camouflaged among the plants of this planet. Not to mention the fact that it had six wings, which made it better suited to flitting than to soaring.

I guess Rachel saw them, too. (Yeah, well, whatever you do, stay down there. Anybody catches a look at you, they'd probably think 'mutated parrot,' but let's not risk it.)

We were coming up on our destination pretty quickly. Tobias showed us a maintenance shed he'd spotted on his last trip, and we all squeezed into it. After demorphing, there was barely enough room for all of us. "Battle morphs, except Tom and Coloton," Jake whispered. He eyed Rachel. "You might want to go with your cougar again. No room for an elephant or a grizzly."

Rachel nodded. "I like the speed, anyway." Marco rolled his eyes.

"So what's the idea?" I asked. "How do we cause a distraction if they're hunkered down in a hidden base?"

Tobias cackled in thought speech. (I got this one, Cass. Just be ready when they come out.) I nodded and started my own cougar morph, wondering what exactly Tobias had in mind.

If I thought the shed had been crowded before, as I morphed, it became absolutely packed. Three Andalites, two cougars, a tiger, a gorilla, and a red-tailed hawk were never meant to be smashed into the same eight by twelve space. (Hit it, Tobias,) Jake said, and nudged the door open just enough for Tobias to squeeze out. He tore down straight through the "bottom" of the pool, shouting in thought speech. (Yeeee-haw!)

With my enhanced hearing, I was almost sure I heard a couple of human voices shouting. Then I heard the unmistakable roar of Hork-bajir. (I think they're coming!) Tobias yelled, giddy from the adrenaline rush. (Oh yeah, they're definitely coming!) I heard what sounded like heavy machinery.

(We have enemies!) Jake yelled. (Coming up elevators in the bottom of the pool! All humans, for now!) The aluminum door popped off of its hinges as Jake shoved it open, using all six hundred pounds of his body weight. He called last-minute instructions as he charged toward the controllers, who were now climbing up the ladders to get out of the pool. (Remember, we want to distract them away from here! Hit them just enough to make them mad, then run!) The first controller was just coming over the edge of the pool, and Jake smacked him with a paw the size of a basketball. The guy flew backward, yelling the whole way. He was lucky to be able to yell at all – Jake had not exposed his claws during the swipe, which was why the guy wasn't hamburger. Then again, the long fall the guy took probably hadn't been good for him, either, though.

A few of the controllers had gotten onto flat ground on the far side of the pool. I know the pool in front of us wasn't quite Olympic-sized, but it was close. Maybe thirty feet wide, maybe a little less. Rachel powered as fast as she could get the cougar to move, straight toward the edge of the swimming pool. (Rachel, don't!) I yelled as I saw what she was about to do. Of course, she ignored me.

(Yaaah!) she yelled as she hit the edge of the pool and leapt. She just launched herself almost thirty feet over a gap that was god-knows-how-deep. She almost didn't make it, too – she hit the far edge hard, and had to use her front claws to scrabble up the side. None of that made it any less amazing, though. An animal six feet long had just jumped a gap almost five times their length. I took the long way around to help her out…she obviously hadn't thought about the fact that it would be about five on one if she even cleared the pool. Or maybe she _had _thought of it – you never knew with Rachel.

She climbed the back of one controller who, funnily enough, was armed with nothing more advanced than a Louisville slugger. He yelled bloody murder as Rachel really dug in with her claws – when she was about to his mid-back, she flipped off of him, directly onto the shoulder of another controller in a move no real cougar would have ever done. Suddenly, there were _two _really bloody, really mad controllers, and Rachel was running away at top speed. I ran past the pursuing controllers to catch up to her, not bothering to scratch or bite them on my way past. They were already ticked-off enough.

(Tell me that wasn't bad ass!) Rachel hollered as she let me catch up to her. (I think they're onto us,) she said sarcastically, and I risked a glance behind me.

I counted five controllers on our tails, with more joining them from the pool every few seconds. A couple of the new arrivals were armed with guns – human ones, for now, at least. But we were gaining on them every second, a fact that wasn't lost on Jake.

(Slow down,) he ordered. (We want them to think they have a chance, to keep them following us.) He led us into a poorly-maintained park beside the public swimming pools, and the Yeerks followed.

(Tomera, Coloton, if you're going to do it, now's your chance!) Jake called back. (That place is as empty as it's ever going to be! If you're going to do it, do it!)


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

We were in for a fight.

At least twenty human controllers had emerged from the subterranean Bug fighter service station, like angry hornets boiling out of a disturbed nest. Jake's plan to lead them away from Tomera and Coloton's attempt to steal a spacecraft had done just that; it also trapped us in a relatively small area with a lot of angry controllers. Most of them were armed with whatever they could grab – bats, large wrenches, crowbars. They looked like an angry mob as they poured into the long-forgotten park where Jake had taken us to make our stand. The park was maybe as wide as a football field and about half as long, and surrounded by eight foot tall, wrought-iron fencing. It was completely overgrown with every sort of vine and creeper plant imaginable. Marco's gorilla morph was the only thing that might be able to make a hole in it, but he didn't have time to play with the fence. Every second we waited, more controllers outnumbered us. Jake saw that, too.

(Well, we don't have much of a choice,) he said, and he sounded regretful that his course of action had led us to this consequence. (It's about to get ugly. We have to defend ourselves and hope Tom and Coloton can pull off their end.)

The controllers stopped about twenty feet away from us; none of them were brave enough to charge a pack of wild, dangerous animals by themselves, armed as they were with only with makeshift, handheld weapons. Jake didn't wait for them to gather their courage. (Try not to kill anyone, but make them sorry they chased us.) He led by example, taking three huge tiger bounds before tackling the nearest controller. He let out a ground-shaking roar, which only served to further the controllers' hesitation. Rachel was right behind him; Ax and Marco entered the fray a little more carefully, picking their targets before rushing in.

I decided to try something else – intimidation. I slid in between the main group of controllers and three that had gotten a bit separated, and I focused on those. I paced, swishing my tail, as I'd seen Jake do so often. I let out a warning noise which scared even me – the Cassie inside of the morph. It was a frightening, ominous noise – something in-between a growl and a yowl. As I paced and continued to stare them down, I let it rise in pitch until it became a full-throated howl, and it really _did _sound like a screaming woman – it was bloodcurdling. And the controllers thought so, too – between watching my friends dominate their brethren and my vocal promise that the same was about to happen to them, two of the controllers actually dropped their weapons and ran. Apparently, the one who stayed was more frightened of Visser Three than he was of me – he held his bat ready for my charge, looking like a baseball player waiting on a pitch.

Unfortunately for him, I wasn't just a dangerous animal. I was a dangerous animal with human intelligence. I feinted like I was about to charge him, but stopped just short enough to where he couldn't check his swing. He whiffed, hitting air, and the bat's momentum carried his upper body away from me and presented me with an open shot at his torso. Regretful, I took the opportunity and bit him under the arm. My jaws were nothing like Jake's tiger's, but I still felt a rib snap under the pressure of the bite. I released him, not pressing my advantage, and he took the chance to drop his bat and run. I let him go without pursuit.

He wasn't the only one; as I turned back to the main melee, I could see only a handful of controllers who had not retreated. It would only be a matter of time before they either ran or were no longer able to fight. The last one conscious and present was brave – he swung a crescent wrench the size of a shovel at Marco. Marco caught it and ripped it out of his hands, then lifted the controller up by the back of the shirt. He was thrown a good fifteen feet over the fence, yelling the whole way.

We had beaten the opposition and we were all alone in the park, none of us seriously injured. (Back to help Tom and Coloton?) Rachel asked breathlessly, already edging back that way.

(No,) Jake said quickly. (Demorph, then go small – we need to get into that facility undetected.)

(Why?) Marco asked, but he was already demorphing.

(Because that's the only way we're going to know if Tom and Coloton got what they came for,) he said. After he was fully human, his eyes popped out like over-inflated beach balls, and I suppressed an instinct to gag. I followed his lead, and when we were far enough into fly morph, I called out to Tobias.

(Tobias, can you lead us back to the station?)

Tobias hesitated a moment before he answered, which unsettled me. (Cloud cover's pretty bad, but I've got a bead on all of you right now. I'll have to stay directly overhead – don't get freaked out if you see a big bird.)

We followed Tobias' guidance until we got to the swimming pool. After that, our compound eyes somehow had no trouble seeing the hologram – we were seeing it in colors that didn't exist in nature, and the fact that it was new to the fly eyes made it easy to keep track of. As we passed through it, I even felt a slight shimmer in the air – not resistance, but a vibrating of the air itself that made the fly really uneasy. Then we were through it, and trying to make sense of what we were seeing.

(I still smell blood,) Marco noted, and I realized that I could, too. (What do you think that means?)

(It means that Tom and Coloton left us a trail,) Rachel said. (They must have run into trouble.)

(We had better hope that's not the case,) Jake said grimly, but we followed the smell of blood anyway. (If any of these controllers got a message off, you can bet your butt Visser Three is on the way. And after what we did to his transport and his Hork-bajir, he is gonna be one unstable Andalite-controller.)

A weird smell hit my antennae…strange, but familiar…(Guys! I found a Yeerk pool!) I said as I suddenly recognized the scent.

(Me too,) Jake said. He tried contacting the Andalites – he had held off until now, in case they were in a spot where they couldn't afford to be distracted. (Tomera? Coloton? Where are you guys?)

The thought-speech that came back was faint and slightly garbled, like we were using walkie-talkies and we were just too far away from each other. (…Jake, we are aboard what we think is…waiting for…should be leaving soon.)

(What?) Jake called back, frustrated. (Are you saying _you_ are leaving soon?)

(…can't hear…well…Yeerks to leave the Bug…should not be long.)

(Anybody get that?) Jake asked.

(I think they're hiding on a Bug fighter, waiting for the controllers aboard to leave so they can demorph and jack it,) Marco said.

(Prince Jake, perhaps if we were to cause another distraction? They would be left alone to do what they need to,) Ax suggested.

(What do you have in mind, Ax?) Rachel asked.

(Well…Cassie has located a planetside Yeerk pool. And no matter how small it is, the controllers would respond if Yeerks in their natural state were threatened.)

Jake replied immediately. (I like it. Under the door, toward the smell of the pool. If the room's unoccupied, we demorph and figure out a way to let the Yeerks know we're about to smush their friends. Let's go.) I was right behind him as he zoomed crazily under the gap between the door and the floor.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

We had all filled the room and quickly demorphed after figuring out that no controllers were occupying it. Once human, I figured out why – the small, stainless-steel Yeerk pool was locked behind a thick steel door. No one was supposed to be able to access this tiny sanctuary…but then again, it probably hadn't been built with morph-capable enemies in mind. Ax quickly interfaced with the small computer attached to the miniature pool and reported that seventy-three Yeerks were occupying it. (The vital signs of this pool will be fully integrated with the main system – any tampering would be detected almost immediately.)

Marco shrugged. "Better than yelling in thought speech, 'Hey Yeerks, we're just giving you a heads-up that we're about to assassinate seventy-three of you. Come and stop us!'"

This was exactly the sort of questionable, shady situation we were coming up against way too often. "We don't actually have to kill them to alert the others that we're here, do we?" I asked.

Marco looked exasperated with me. Jake's face went blank, and I knew he was weighing benefits and downsides in his mind. I also knew he _would _kill these helpless Yeerks if it would accomplish the mission. I was the only one who seemed to care about "trivial" things like this, anymore. Most of the time, I wasn't real sure that I liked the way this war was shaping my friends.

Luckily, Ax didn't seem to grasp the nuances that my reluctance had on our group dynamic. He just answered me honestly. (Probably not. The pool has a self-cleaning system that slowly heats the impurities out of the nutrient solution. It is not hot enough to kill the Yeerks inside instantly; it would need to be sustained for hours. And if this cleaning program were to be run on an inhabited pool, the computer would sound the alert.)

"Good," Jake said, clearly relieved. "Run it. I know you're tired, guys. Back to something that can fight, please."

Ax pecked some buttons as the human Animorphs once again morphed into something more dangerous. I was barely through with the transformation when the first heavy fists began to pound on the outside of the door. Belatedly, Jake said, (You've got that thing locked, right Ax?)

(Yes, although it might be a good idea to open it now, before they're prepared,) Ax suggested. I agreed – better to fight the few out there now than to wait for a dozen of them to set up barricades and point Dracon beams at the door.

At Jake's order, Ax popped the door. The guy who had been pounding on it almost fell into the room as the steel door _whooshed_ into the ceiling. Suddenly, he wasn't so sure he wanted the door open any more as he looked at the various dangerous animals that now faced him. He ran as we funneled out of the side room and into the main hangar.

That's what it was – definitely not human, but definitely a storage and repair facility for Yeerk fighters. Several impaired Bug fighters hung from racks, waiting their turn to be serviced. (How are they taking this kind of damage if we're the only ones fighting them?) Marco wondered of the line of battle-damaged Bug fighters.

He didn't have time to wonder anymore – apparently, Ax's diversion had been a big hit. Hork-bajir were leaping catwalks and railings to get to us. None of them were armed, and I realized they'd be too afraid of damaging the equipment down here with Dracon beams.

With the experience of dozens of battles, we fanned out to make use of all of the available floor space. Nobody hunched together – no one was going to take any two of us down with a lucky shot. It also gave the Yeerks problems with deciding where to engage us first. We didn't give them a weak point to focus on.

My lateral drift had taken me closer to the Bug fighters that were scattered on the ground, the ones that either didn't need repairs or that had already been serviced. Suddenly, I could hear our Andalite friends. They were only talking between themselves, but they had automatically included us in their dialogue in case one of us got close enough to communicate. What they were saying was quickly filling me up with horror as I watched Jake and Rachel tag-team the first few Hork-bajir to come over the rail.

(I am sure of it, Coloton,) Tomera was saying excitedly. (It is the Visser's flagship, the Blade ship. 100% computer match. He is seven minutes away.)

Coloton sounded just as excited to report their ship's progress. (All systems nominal. Fuel at 99%. Weapons fully charged. We are ready for vacuum.)

(Yes,) Tomera said, and I felt the ground shiver a little as one of the Bug fighters lifted off of the grated steel platform. (Course for Z-space jump point is set. It will take us right by the Blade ship's incoming vector.)

(Well, maybe we'll just have to take a shot at it as we leave,) Coloton said casually, but excitement burned under his tone. Suddenly, we could all hear the two wayward Andalites – they had activated the Bug fighter's computer's thought speech amplifier. (Brothers, mission accomplished! We will see you when we return to clean up this Yeerk mess. Thank you!) That was all Coloton broadcasted, but it would have been enough, had I not caught the clip of their earlier conversation.

(Jake!) I yelled, not wanting to distract him from the fight he was in, but not really seeing a choice. (The Blade ship is on the way, and Tom and Coloton are planning on engaging it on their way out!)

(No!) Ax yelled back as he flung his tail at another Hork-bajir. (They are going to engage a Blade ship with a Bug fighter? That's suicide! They're fast enough to get around an incoming Blade ship – tell them, Cassie! Tell them to stay out of Visser Three's range, or they're going to die!)

(I can't,) I said in frustration as I watched the red engine trails from the Bug fighter fade as it disappeared toward the edge of the atmosphere. (They're gone.)


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

As I watched the Bug fighter's cloaking device kick in and cover the burn trails of its departure, I felt like my head was going to explode. It was beyond ridiculous – my friends were fighting Hork-bajir a hundred feet from me, but I had been given one last thing to worry about by our Andalite friends. In a way, I wished I hadn't heard what they were planning to do on their way back to the Andalite home world. They _had _to be smarter than that, right? They wouldn't _really _attack Visser Three and the Blade ship, would they?

I saw that Ax had been fighting his way toward me, nimbly dodging blades that were thrown his way and returning slashes of his own. (Ax, how do we get in touch with them? We _have _to tell them to get away. Your people need the message they're carrying!)

Ax answered my unasked question as he fired his hind legs and leapt over the metal railing that separated us. (Yes, we do need to tell them that. I think that Amora Tomera has been kept out of action for so long that he simply cannot resist engaging a Yeerk target. Especially a target as high-profile as a high-ranking Visser and a Blade ship.)

A tiger roared, and I wasn't sure if it was out of anger or pain. I did my best to ignore the fact that Jake might be in trouble – he could take care of himself. (So what do we _do_?) I demanded.

I followed Ax's stalk eyes as they drifted toward the row of parked Bug fighters that had already received their repairs. (We will go after them. Let's go.) He didn't wait for me to agree, he just started hauling Andalite butt toward the ships.

Rachel had caught on to what was going on, somehow. As I started after Ax, a tan blur shot by me. (No _way _are you guys leaving me out of this one,) she said as the two of us caught up with Ax, who was punching seemingly random symbols into the tiny computer by the hatch of the Bug fighter. "Incorrect access – please try again. Incorrect access – please try again. Incorrect access – lockout in ten seconds. Nine. Eight."

Rachel's impatience was getting the best of her as she paced the spot where the entrance ramp would extend. (Come on, Ax! Let's go!)

(Silence, Rachel!) Ax snapped as the computer continued its countdown to locking us out. (I need to concentrate…there!)

The ramp extended, and the computer wished us a pleasant flight and a nice day. Rachel and I ran up the ramp and into the smallish cockpit. Ax squeezed past us and started linking up with the ship's main computer – lights lit up, motors hummed, and the whole ship thrummed with power as it lifted a couple of inches off of the deck. Rachel and I were trying to demorph as Ax pointed the nose of the Bug fighter toward the sky, in the direction Tomera and Coloton had gone.

I was mostly human as we took off. I couldn't feel the acceleration because of the artificial gravity, but I could see the clouds blurring past the window at a ridiculous speed. I tried to wedge into the corner to give Ax room to work – the Bug fighter's cockpit was only a little bigger than the interior of a Range Rover. "What are you doing, Ax? Just send them a message – we're gonna get shot down ourselves if we try to fight with them."

(I can't,) Ax said tensely. (It would be intercepted by the Yeerks. If they knew that the Amora was here, unprotected…) he let it hang, but I could imagine.

"How are we going to catch them?" Rachel demanded as she crowded Ax to stare out of the cockpit window.

(A Bug fighter must remain under 33% thrust in order to stay cloaked. That's how fast Coloton and Tomera are going. We are almost at full burn.)

I let that roll around for a second before I gasped. "That means..?"

(Yes,) Ax replied tersely to my unfinished question. (We are fully visible. Earth radar stations have us on screen, and our ship's computer just detected the launch of a dozen human fixed-wing craft.) He pointed to a row of flashing lights on a panel. (I am also being hailed by the base we just left, the Pool ship, and the Blade ship. Everybody knows where we are. Everybody.)

"So what are we going to do when we catch up with them?" Rachel asked, still scanning the rapidly darkening sky for a trace of the other stolen Bug fighter.

(If I can get a direct line of sight on them, I'm going to shoot them a message. Literally.) Ax realized we were confused and expanded upon his answer. (I can program the Dracon beams on this ship to carry information in the UV spectrum. I will power them down almost all the way, and use the light energy to carry my message. It will work on about the same principle as your Morse code, except using an energy weapon.)

Rachel shot me a look that said, _'Is that even possible?'_ I shot her one back that said, '_How should I know?_' The lights on the panel Ax had shown us earlier stopped flashing green and began pulsating red. (Oh. Um, the Pool ship is still calling us. Apparently, no one has gotten out word of the battle and the stolen Bug fighters. It is worth a try to bluff them. Cassie, stand beside me and act like a controller. Tell them we're on a training mission. Tell them the computer malfunctioned. It doesn't matter, just buy us a little time, if you can.) He tapped several buttons near the flashing lights. (Are you ready?) he asked as I stepped up beside him. I swallowed hard, once, and nodded. He tapped two more buttons, then pointed to me like a cameraman points to the guy he's taping.

Instantly, I saw a hologram of a ticked-off looking guy in a business suit. He adjusted his headset and glared lasers at me through the hologram. "Ground Fighter Thirty-seven, why are you not at your on-planet station?" he demanded. "You are not authorized for this flight, Thirty-seven."

I tried to think fast. It helped that Ax had told me it didn't matter one way or the other if I fooled him. "No, no problems here. The…um…well, we're testing the new hull seals in zero gravity. We're just taking it out of atmosphere for a minute, then we're heading straight back to base."

I hoped against hope that it was going to work, just for a second. The controller in the suit looked confused as he punched data into the computer in front of him. "New hull seals? What are you talking about? I don't see anything about new _anything_." His eyes narrowed at me. "What is your name?"

Ax shot me a private thought speech message, and I answered the controller almost right away. "Polred Seven Six Eight, Sulp Niar pool. And you?"

The guy didn't buy it. "Sulp Niar is my home pool. And there are no Polreds there. Nice try, Andalite scum." He shouted a bunch of things behind him before turning back to me. "You'll never make it out of the system," he threatened. "We know where you are, and we-" Ax tapped a button and cut him off.

(A good try, Cassie. Thank you.) Compliments from Ax were rare – he didn't believe in patting someone's back for doing what they were supposed to. He knew he'd asked a lot of me, trying to trick the Yeerks, and I appreciated his acknowledgement.

"There!" Rachel yelled, pointing. I followed her finger, and sure enough, I could see the vapor trail the cloaked Bug fighter was leaving through the wispy upper atmosphere. "That's got to be them, right Ax?"

(Yes, it must be. Both of you, please sit against the rear bulkhead. When I start shooting, things may get a little confused.) We did as he asked, Rachel only reluctantly.

"Think this'll work?" she asked me quietly so as not to disturb Ax.

I thought about all we had riding on this, on the Andalites returning home with our message for their people. "I sure hope so, Rachel. I sure hope so."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

(_Gafil_!) Ax yelled; I guess it's an Andalite curse or something. I could see the red beams lancing out from our ship toward the Bug fighter we were after. The Bug fighter had dropped its cloak in order to have full power and maneuvering, and so far, they were able to dodge the shots that Ax was taking at them. (If that is Coloton at the helm, he is as good a pilot as Elfangor. He's not letting me get a clean shot.)

"In his defense, he thinks you're a Yeerk come to shoot him down," Rachel said.

I was suddenly hopeful. "Maybe this will convince them to go straight home."

(I doubt it,) Ax said grimly. (They're still on an intercept course with the Blade ship.) He pointed, and Rachel and I craned our necks to see. There, in the distance, but rapidly growing closer, hung the imposing bulk of the Blade ship. It was jet black – seeing it in space was like one of those magic eye photos. At first, I could only make out the outline because of the portion of the starfield it blocked out. After seeing it, however, it was impossible to un-see. It was hard, angular, and dangerous-looking.

I watched the Bug fighter nimbly dodge two more shots from Ax. "We have to send them a message, Ax," I said desperately as we grew ever closer to the Blade ship. "We have to risk it."

Ax shook his head. (I would doom them _and _us by doing that,) he said. (Right now, we're still tagged as a friendly to Yeerk forces. They see that I am shooting at Tomera and Coloton and they assume we are on their side. We will just have to hope Coloton is a good enough pilot to keep them from getting killed.) Ax powered back the throttle and let the Andalites pull out ahead of us.

"So that's it?" Rachel demanded. "We just let them play tag with a Blade ship? Come on, there has to be _something _we can do!"

(All we can do is watch. And hope.) Ax did not sound optimistic.

The Andalites' Bug fighter started taking fire from the Blade ship as soon as they were in its range. These were no regular Dracon beams, either – they looked to be bigger around than the Bug fighter they were shooting at. I watched as the Bug fighter corkscrewed around a close shot and pulled up to skim along the hull of the Blade ship. The twin Dracons on the Bug fighter lit up and raked across the spine of the Blade ship, and I saw at least two secondary explosions in the superstructure of the huge craft.

I had almost been able to bring myself to be hopeful again when one of the dozens of Dracons shooting at the Bug fighter hit home. I saw one of the engine pods at the rear of the fighter explode, sending it into an uncontrolled spin toward deep space. With what I knew about zero gravity and inertia, I knew that unless the fighter came under some sort of power, it would spin and drift like that forever.

The Yeerks weren't content to let them die a slow, spinning death. As I watched, four massive Dracon beams converged on the ship, blowing it into atoms. Rachel punched the metal wall and said a word I can't repeat. Ax's stalk eyes hung in defeat. Around the spot where the Andalites had met their end, dozens of Bug fighters swarmed uselessly, as if they were looking for a leftover scrap to destroy.

Ax sounded really weird when he spoke; I couldn't tell if he were ashamed, disappointed, or beaten. Maybe a combination of the three. (Well, that is that. We did what we could. Now we go home.)

"That is _not _that," Rachel growled. "So the Amora and his friend were too glory-hungry to finish the mission – hell with them." Her tone was hard, and it was clear she felt no sympathy for the Andalite prince and his aide. It was clear she held them responsible for their own fate. "We're here; we're in a Z-space capable ship, and we're already off of Earth. Punch it for Andalite space, Ax; we'll deliver the message ourselves."

He acted in direct contradiction to Rachel's suggestion as he spun the fighter around and pointed it back at the planet. (Impossible. Already, we are being hailed again. If the Yeerks haven't figured out we're not on their side yet, they will very soon.) He pointed to a monitor showing the view from the back of our ship – several Bug fighters were already angling towards us. (We would never be able to get far enough outside of Earth's gravitational field to go to Z-space. This time, we have lost.)

"Dammit…" Rachel bemoaned as we roared back into atmosphere. Ax fiddled with the computer for a moment.

(Be ready to morph to bird,) Ax said, attempting to keep emotion out of his voice. (We can't exactly park this ship back where we found it.)

"When should we morph?" I asked as my home state got closer and closer to our viewport.

Ax checked and double-checked a couple of last figures out of the computer. (Now,) he said, and he punched a button.

Suddenly, the bottom portion of the floor dropped out as the computer screamed out alarms. Rachel, Ax, and I were sucked out of the falling ship as it accelerated past us, toward the planet. I felt dizzy as I tried to concentrate on my osprey morph – one second, I'd been inside of a Yeerk Bug fighter. The next second I was in an uncontrolled free-fall toward Earth. The air was wispy, cold, and hard to breathe. Ax had bailed us out of the ship with more than enough time to morph, so after taking a moment to wrap my head around the situation, I began morphing. As I spun, occasionally Ax or Rachel would pass in front of my eyes. They were shrinking and twisting as they fell, as I was.

We finished morphing with several thousand feet to spare. Ax's calculations had brought us very close to home; I watched as the Bug fighter shrank toward the coastline, and marveled at how big the explosion looked when it hit, even from this far above it.

Now that the threat of imminent death had passed, I started to worry about the others. They didn't know if we were alright – the last they saw of Rachel, Ax, and I, we were on a suicide mission in a stolen Bug fighter. I prayed that they were okay – it was bad enough we'd risked life and limb for no reason. I couldn't stand the thought of anyone seriously hurt or killed, all for an unsuccessful mission.

I could have collapsed in relief as Tobias called up to us. (Guys! That _is _you, right? Rachel? Thank God you guys are okay!)

(We're fine. Is everyone else – ?) I asked, but I couldn't finish the thought.

(Everybody's okay, we all got out,) he said quickly, and I could have collapsed in relief. Suddenly, the failed mission and the pointless fight were all insignificant details. Everyone was safe, everyone was okay. Jake was okay. I let relief wash over me like a wave as Rachel, Ax, and I followed Tobias into the forest.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

We all met at Ax's scoop as the sun was setting behind the horizon. Nobody knew how to start the meeting; Marco and Jake were having a quiet, private conversation, as were Rachel and Tobias. Ax halfheartedly fiddled with some technology project he was working on as a hobby. I could only imagine how he was feeling.

"I'm sorry, Ax. I'm sorry we couldn't do more to help your friends," I told him gently. What he said surprised me. The others stopped talking to listen.

(There is nothing to be sorry about. The Amora and Coloton got what they wanted. They went out in a blaze of glory, fighting the Yeerks.)

"Yeah, but they didn't finish the mission," Rachel said. "They didn't get the chance to take our message home."

Suddenly, Ax sounded angry. (Oh, they had the chance, surely enough. They chose personal glory over duty. The Andalites do not need an Amora like that. We are better without him.)

I was stunned. "Ax, how can you say that?"

He focused his stalk eyes on me. (I say it because it is the truth. Tomera's selfishness may have doomed the entire human race. It may have doomed the Andalites, as well – because of the Amora, the Yeerk plague will have a chance to grow stronger. He and Coloton bring shame to me, to all Andalites. For that, I apologize to you, my friends. I am truly sorry.)

"Don't be sorry, Ax-man," Jake said. "And don't be too hard on Tomera and Coloton. They were sheltered. They were like dogs looking through the cage at something they wanted to fight for a long, long time. It's understandable that they would -"

Ax cut Jake off, sounding even angrier. (It is _not _understandable. It is _not _forgivable. They called me a child, but the two of them acted just like spoiled little children. They acted in a way that would disgrace any Andalite who calls himself a warrior. It seems that you were exposed to the worst my people have to offer.)

"We have also been exposed to the best the Andalites have," I told him. He looked confused, and I smiled. "_You_, Ax. The way Tomera and Coloton acted just backs that up. I'd rather have you at my side than ten full warriors I don't know."

"She's right, Ax," Tobias chimed in. "I don't really know much about how the Andalite military does things, but if we make it through this alive, I'd be willing to bet you're going to the top. It seems to me like you embody everything an Andalite warrior is supposed to be."

Ax wasn't in any mood to be cheered up, but I could tell it was getting through a little. (Thank you for your kind words, friends. But I am still ashamed of the way my people acted.)

"You've got nothing to make up for," Rachel told him. "Don't be thinking you've got to prove something to us, now. Keep the big picture in mind, Ax-man. If we keep doing what we're doing, we're going to be fine. You are doing _your _duty – that's all you can do. You can't control what other people do."

Ax nodded, and despite himself, I could tell he was in a better mood. (Again, thank you, friends. If you don't mind, I want to run, now. I will graze, and I will think.)

Tobias started morphing – he was going to be ready in case Ax decided he wanted some company. Marco looked at me with a devious grin. "So, Cassie. Grand Theft Spaceship – that's _got_ to be a felony. How does it feel to be an intergalactic criminal?" I laughed – I couldn't help it.

Rachel laughed, too. "I wouldn't make her mad, Marco. See, Cassie's the only one willing to help you out of the jams you get yourself into. Like detention. Keep it up – I'm sure if you keep making fun of her, you're going to burn your only bridge for getting out of trouble."

Marco's grin faded, and he looked at me, wide-eyed. "That's not true. Cassie knows I'm kidding. You'll help me get out of detention on Monday, right?"

I appeared to consider. "Maybe. If I'm not out stealing spaceships, that is." Everyone laughed, even Ax as he galloped away toward the field. Jake put his arm around me as we started the short walk back to my farm, and I conceded that life could be worse. Sure, we didn't get the word out to the Andalites. Sure, we were still on our own. But when Jake put his arm around me like that, it was hard to be pessimistic. It was a good reminder that this was what I was fighting for – an arm around my shoulder as opposed to a Hork-bajir wrist blade to my throat.

When Rachel and Marco weren't looking, Jake snuck a light kiss on my cheek. I smiled. Yeah, this was worth fighting for.

**A/N: **Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it – whether you did or you didn't, I would be eternally grateful if you could take two seconds out of your busy schedule to drop me a review. Be on the lookout for the next installment of my Animorphs series – the next book is in Ax's POV. Thank you again, and I appreciate the reviews in advance!


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